Huddersfield’s children’s hospice has been given a glowing report by health inspectors.
Watchdog, the Care Quality Commission (CQC), made a surprise visit to the Forget Me Not Children’s Hospice and found it was giving “outstanding” care.
The Brackenhall based home has been rated as being among the top 2% of health and social care providers that have been inspected recently.
The inspection report says: “Staff were highly dedicated and passionate about their roles in caring for children and they placed children at the very heart of their work.
“Staff focus was on enhancing the quality of life for children and their families and this was unanimously confirmed by families we spoke with.”
Families whose children are being cared for also gave the charity high praise.
Comments included: “Whatever you want, they do their utmost to fulfil that need” and “This is a special place to us. It’s like being in a caring bubble where all anxieties and stresses ease.”
Chief executive Peter Branson, said: “The families we care for deserve the very best and we are thrilled that the dedication and commitment of our care team has been recognised in this way by the CQC.
“We will carry on doing everything we can to reach out to more children who need our support so they too can feel the benefit of outstanding care.”
Debbie Westhead, Deputy Chief Inspector for Adult Social Care in the North, said: “We found that Forget Me Not Children’s Hospice was providing an outstanding service to the children it supported and to their families, and the team there should be extremely proud of the work they do.
“The support provided was designed not just to meet the child’s needs, but also to the whole family. Private accommodation within the hospice was available to families to use and counselling and bereavement services offered emotional support.
“We know how rewarding it is to work in such a service, and we were struck by the extent to which the hospice places the children at the heart of everything it does.
“More than anything else, the way in which the staff team are led to think of each child as a unique individual and respond accordingly, is why this hospice has received the highest rating we can give.”
Forget Me Not Children’s Hospice supports more than 100 children and their families, across Calderdale, Kirklees and Wakefield, through its hospice at home service and state of the art hospice Russell House in Huddersfield.
Other highlights from the CQC report included:
Staff were personally matched with individual families depending upon the need and skills required and robust and regular specialist training was offered to all staff.
The chief executive demonstrated clear goals for the development of the service with emphasis on ensuring quality experiences for children and their families.
Care plans for each child were incredibly detailed and included information about their individual needs. In addition every child had their own ‘play passport’ showing their personal play preferences.
Families views were gathered regularly using surveys, focus groups and informally during stays and visits. Feedback from families was published in the hospice birthday magazine, a family internet facility had been developed to include a praises and grumbles section and families’ views were used to shape the development of the service.
Factfile:
Forget Me Not Children’s Hospice charity was founded more than 12 years ago as a result of the challenges faced by a local mum whose son, Russell, became very ill and needed hospice care. She was concerned at the lack of local support, and set about changing this. After years of fundraising Forget Me Not Children’s Hospice began caring for local children and their families in 2010 through its hospice at home service.
In December 2012, the Forget Me Not Children’s Hospice opened the doors of its state of the art building – Russell House.
With just 4% of funding coming from the government the charity must raise over £3.2m each year to ensure it is able to give the children and families the support they need.
