THE quality of care offered by Dorothy House Hospice near Bradford on Avon has been highlighted in a new report from the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

It says hospice care across England has the highest percentage of services rated ‘Outstanding’, with Dorothy House and St Ann’s Hospice in Salford singled out for special mention.

‘The State of Hospice Services in England, 2014 to 2017’ was published during Hospice Care Week and ahead of World Hospice and Palliative Care Day on Saturday (14 October).

It found that 25 per cent of hospices are rated as Outstanding (51 services), with a further 70 per cent (142 services) being rated as Good. This is in comparison to around six per cent of NHS acute hospitals, four per cent of GP services and two per cent of domiciliary care agencies, nursing homes and residential homes being rated Outstanding.

In particular, inspectors found hospice leaders and frontline staff displayed a strong commitment to providing truly person-centred, compassionate care and support to people using their services, and their loved ones, as well as developing strong relationships with other services in the area.

Wayne de Leeuw, Executive Clinical Lead for Community Services at DHHC, said: “We’re thrilled to be recognised as only one of two national, high-performing hospices in the CQC Report.

“The Dorothy House example used in the report highlights the hospice’s ethos of person-centred, professional and compassionate care and how we work well in partnership with other organisations. However, today’s acknowledgement by the CQC won’t distract us from continuing to strive to overcome inequalities in end of life care across our region.

“For example, we continue to collaborate with local charities to support homeless people and are providing an Enhanced Discharge Service locally to help patients leave hospital quickly and receive care at home through our Hospice at Home team.”

Dorothy House Hospice Care runs a dedicated partnership project to support homeless people at the end of life and has worked with the Royal United Hospital in Bath on projects to support people to leave hospital more quickly, if the hospice could offer them care away from the acute setting.

The hospice at Winsley near Bradford on Avon is run by a registered charity and is registered for 10 beds. It provides specialist palliative and end of life care for adults with life-limiting illness or complex symptom management needs. The CQC’s inspection in September 2016 rated the service as ‘Outstanding’ overall.