Quality Account
2013 -2014
‘‘It’s so hard to put into words what St Luke’s Hospice did for all of us……your ability
to emphasise with all of us made you feel part of the family…..you didn’t help mum to
die – what you did was help her live’’.
Extract from a letter received from a patient’s daughter (May 2014)
St Luke’s Hospice
Nethermayne
Basildon
Essex
SS16 5NJ
Registered Charity No. 289466 and as a Company in England No. 1812104
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Introduction
Chief Executive Statement
Operating within south west Essex, St Luke’s Hospice is dedicated to the provision
of the highest level of care and support to patients and their families.
Our services are designed to be flexible and innovative to meet the individual needs
of those requiring our support. Services are delivered at the hospice and across the
community including in patient’s homes, maximising the opportunity for patient’s to
exercise choice in their place of care and death. .
St Luke’s Hospice seeks to address unmet need within the community and this very
much shapes and influences the ethos of the organisation as it seeks to maximise
provision across the community. The commitment of staff and volunteers to embrace
change is a key to the organisation’s success and its ability to respond quickly to
changing patient /carer need.
Critical to our success is the ability for our service users to contribute to service
design and development and we ensure that the patient voice is heard in our Clinical
Governance processes and via our established Hospice User Group.
The Hospice strongly believes in the benefits of partnership and collaborative
working, with commissioners and other health and social care providers, to ensure
resources are maximised, there is an on-going aim to ensure that services are
streamlined, where the patient remains the focus. Our hope is that these
relationships will be strengthened in the future, to further help and assist the
community we serve, by improving coordination across all providers, allowing fully
integrated service design and delivery at the most immediate point of need.
The commitment of staff and volunteers across all service areas cannot be
underestimated, as it collectively contributes to our achievements and is paramount
to our success.
I am responsible for the preparation of the Quality Account for 2013/14 and to the
best of my knowledge the information reported is fair and accurate.
Eileen Marshall, Chief Executive
June 2014
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Part 2.
Reflecting on priorities identified for 2013/14
1. Improved Accommodation
Within the last eleven years Hospice services have expanded to meet local needs
and to deliver national end of life care strategies and recommendations. The level of
growth has placed significant pressure on the charity’s existing accommodation.
Arising from this a strategy to enhance and improve care areas and ancillary
accommodation has been developed.
In 2013 the Hospice was pleased to secure a sum of £510,000 from a national
Department of Health grant to contribute towards a capital building programme to
enhance existing day hospice and out-patient accommodation. With secured
supplementary trust funding from a variety of sources and a financial contribution
from the hospice, the new annexed building, which will be completed in 2014, will
provide significantly enhanced facilities for clients and service users; creating a
vibrant new day therapy assessment and support centre, with improved consultation
spaces, including dedicated space for physiotherapy and lymphoedema therapy
services as well as an information and advice hub.
In advancement of the organisation’s longer term strategy for accommodation the
Hospice has continued to work actively with local councils and developers to explore
options for other new hospice facilities in the hope that formal planning applications
can ultimately be progressed during 2014/15.
Enhancing Carer Support
The Hospice recognises the vital role of carers in supporting patients to be cared for
or to die at home, and considers it imperative that carers feel confident and enabled
within the caring role.
Whilst services to meet the needs of carers have been established across Hospice
services for many years the increasing burden on carers necessitated a review of
how these services were provided and how engagement with carers can be
improved, recognising the need of carers in their own right.
The Hospice has introduced a dedicated validated assessment tool to analyse and
assess carer need. The process has enabled improved understanding of the
priorities for carers which are broadly related to understanding what may happen in
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the future, financial and legal issues, and feeling that contact can be made with
professionals easily, including outside of normal working hours.
This assessment has enabled communication with carers to be more targeted and
relevant. The Carers Support Group has arranged a number of informative sessions
including, relaxation, counselling, welfare benefit advice and reminiscence.
Feedback indicates that carers needs are now being more directly and effectively
addressed.
The Hospice has had huge success through the implementation of the Information
Support pilot aimed at patients and carers on the ward of the local acute hospital.
Visits have been carried out during visiting hours, to meet carers and to offer support
and assessments
Funding continues to be sought to appoint a dedicated Carer Support Coordinator to
support this essential pathway with the aim that structured support interventions will
lead to improved experiences for both the patient and carer; a reduction in crises
situations and avoidance of unwanted or unnecessary hospital admissions.
Transition
Adolescence is a period of significant change for any young person, even more so
when they have on-going health problems and their care, when reaching the age of
16, needs to continue within an adult health and social care setting.
In 2013 the Hospice changed its registration with the Care Quality Commission to
enable in-patient admission for people from 16 years. Part of this change has
required working closely with other service providers to ensure appropriate support
during the ‘transitional’ phase.
The Hospice has worked towards establishing a ‘transition pathway’ for young
people starting from their 14th birthday. The aim of this early support is to introduce
adult hospice care to the young person and family, with the support of their
established care team. Over the following two years the aim will be to get to know
the young person’s and their family’s needs, holding multidisciplinary care team
meetings and establishing support networks to ensure full support by the age of 1618 years as seamlessly as possible. This will mean that young people in the south
west Essex area will be supported to make the transition to adult services if they
wish, accessing a range of support services for themselves and their family in their
own locality. It will enable young people to take responsibility for their own health
and make informed choices and decisions regarding their physical, emotional, social
care and well-being development, in conjunction with their parents, families and care
team.
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Consequently St. Luke’s now supports young people with life-limiting illness from the
age of 16, offering a range of in-patient and supportive care services and has
received the first admission of this age group.as well as offering therapeutic and
support interventions and groups which have been highly evaluated by young
people, their siblings, carers and family members.
There has been an on-going programme of information and training for in house staff
and volunteers over the last year.
This is an exciting and key development which will present challenges, but will
provide young people with life-limiting illnesses, and their families, with a planned coordinated approach to the services that can be provided by St. Luke’s Hospice.
Part 2
2.1 Statements of Assurance from the Board
Review of services
During 2013/14 St Luke’s Hospice provided eight NHS services:
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In-Patient Unit
Day Hospice
Out Patients
Hospice at Home
Complementary Therapy
Information Services
Counselling Services Adults
Counselling Services Children and Young People
The Hospice has reviewed all the data available to them on the ‘quality of care’ in all
of these NHS services.
The income generated by the NHS services reviewed in 2013/14 represents 39% of
the total income generated from the provision of NHS services by St Luke’s Hospice
for the reporting period 2013/14.
2.2 Participation in clinical audits and research
Similar to previous years a comprehensive audit review has been completed against
a programmed annual audit plan. Audits of particular note included:
Bisphosphonate Audit
The Hospice’s Consultant in Palliative Medicine undertook an audit in 2013 to look at
monitoring and documentation for patients receiving bisphosphonates in Day
Hospice. This was an audit of a position previously monitored in 2006.
The audit highlighted improvements in monitoring and documentation. All patients in
the later audit were having regular blood tests to enable adjustments of dose/safe
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prescribing. However there was some inconsistent use of the documentation devised
after the first audit due to the changeover to crosscare (the Hospice’s new electronic
record system).
Action from this audit resulted in an updated policy and information for junior doctors,
new documentation for Crosscare to enable accurate monitoring and appropriate
assessments were carried out, and letter proformas developed to ensure good
communication with referrer and GP.
The position will be further audited in the future.
Syringe Driver Audit
The prospective audit took place over a 31 day period in October 2013. . Its purpose
was to investigate the prescription and administration of medicines via a
subcutaneous syringe driver. The audit demonstrated that the transition from M26
Graseby to T34 had been made with minimal problems or incidences occurring. A
syringe driver audit is carried out annually to ensure best practice is maintained. It is
still mandatory for all qualified staff to attend an annual syringe driver update.
Syringe driver tutorials are also given to all St Luke’s doctors on GP rotation.
Education Audit
An assessment of the perception of St Lukes by student placements from Anglia
Ruskin University identified a high level of satisfaction. The Hospice received a letter
from Anglia Ruskin University commending the Hospice for the quality of the
mentorship provided to student nurses, which was noted as being to a particularly
high standard. Mentorship was noted as supportive, structured, informative and key
to a successful student experience with it being noted that quality mentorship to this
level enabled students to feel positive about their practice experience and their
course. The hospice was commended for the time and effort afforded to student
learning.
2.3 Quality improvement and Innovation Goals Agreed with our
Commissioners
A proportion of St. Luke’s Hospice income in 2013/14 was conditional on achieving
quality improvement and innovation goals agreed between St Luke’s Hospice and
Basildon and Brentwood and Thurrock CCG’s.
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Supporting achievement of PPC and delivery of end of life care
The aim of this CQUIN is to improve the delivery of End of Life Care in the
community, through improved provision of care to people not only in their own
home but optimising use of Hospice pathways. Reducing the need for
unnecessary acute hospital admission at end of life ensuring that the service
supports patients, carers and families at end of life and extends to support
them after death of their family member.
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The Hospice has undertaken a range of initiatives working collectively with
colleagues across the locality and across hospice services to improve the
quality of end of life care, developing initiatives across the whole system to
inform future commissioning. considerations.
2.4 Priorities for Improvement
Priority 1.
Establishing a dedicated Single Point of Access (Support, Assessment and
Advice Service)
There is recognition nationally of the benefits of a single point of contact /access for
end of life care patients in enabling co-ordinated and timely advice and support for
patients, families and professionals.
Often patients, carers, families and other professionals don’t know who to contact to
access the right information, support, care and/or intervention at the right time.
There is often a range of information and contact numbers left in the home and in
fact too much information can be as confusing and isolating as none. Patients in
palliative and end of life care situations identify a lack of one contact point as a
reason they did not know who to call and therefore called an ambulance and ended
up in hospital. This is true for people at all stages of their disease journey from
treatment to end of life care.
Coordinating a person’s end of life care can help to reduce unnecessary or
unwanted treatments, visits and emergency admissions. Sharing information with
key colleagues across both health and social care will help ensure that needs are
met and preferences and wishes are respected, enabling more people to die in their
preferred place. The concept of the service relies heavily on the ability to apply a
collaborative approach across services in south west Essex and will play a key role
in supporting existing core services across a range of specialist disciplines.
An integrated model developed in partnership between St Luke’s Hospice and South
West Essex Community Services (NELFT), the service will aim to support patient
choice, avoid inappropriate hospital admissions and enhance quality of care.
We aim to achieve this by:
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Working closely with acute services, providing a single contact number/
coordinated reference point for patients, families and professionals.
Sign posting or supporting access to palliative and end of life care services as
well as other supportive and therapeutic services throughout the disease
trajectory.
Coordinating services across a range of providers across health, social and
voluntary services. The provision of support and advice will include carers,
other family members and health and social care professionals
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Establishing a process to support more patients to be cared for and to die in
their place of choice and reduce inappropriate hospital admissions whilst
improving the quality of care that patients and families receive, thus impacting
on care, place of care and death and bereavement outcomes .
The Hospice has been successful in securing funding to allow a limited test and
learn pilot and is working in partnership with the CCGs to identify further funding to
allow a fully comprehensive model to be developed.
Priority 2.
Increasing Access and Developing Outpatients Appointments
The Hospice has previously operated a successful out patient service, which delivers
patient choice within comfortable and pleasant surroundings. The aim is to increase
access to out-patient services across a range of interventions, and to particularly
strengthen support to non- cancer patients. Earlier intervention to hospice services is
viewed as an opportunity not only to extend palliative care support, but also to begin
to demystify the concept of hospice services, enabling increased understanding and
the opportunity to subsequently access a wider range of integrated, therapeutic
specialist support.
We aim to achieve this by:
 Increasing the number of available out-patient facilities and appointments within
our new and existing accommodation
 Increasing the number of acute day treatment therapies
 Continuing to raise awareness of health care professionals to ensure timely and
appropriate referrals, regardless of diagnosis
 Increasing access to clinical preparation e.g. blood tests
 Supporting more people out of the acute environment
 Providing increased support via holistic needs assessment and clinical review
and monitoring
 Adapting care models to support the needs of people dying from illnesses other
than cancer.
 Increasing day stay and short stay attendances and admissions, i.e. procedures
to reduce unwanted and unnecessary visits /admissions to hospital.
Priority 3
Increasing Access to Lymphoedema
The full transfer of the South Essex Lymphoedema Service (SELS) to St Luke’s
Hospice has enabled the opportunity to review resources to support patient needs
and to explore options for service development, to address current unmet need
including reviewing options linked to the management of primary lymphoedema.
We aim to achieve this by:
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Establishing a fully integrated centralised holistic service with greater
sustainability, delivered across a range of local venues to enable ease of
access across south Essex.
Improving pre-emptive health promotion for Lymphoedema patients to reduce
progression to more severe stages and reducing the risk of secondary
complications.
Increasing awareness and training to healthcare professionals working in
acute settings
Increasing local provision for lymphoedema secondary to chronic conditions
other than cancer , working with other related specialists .e.g. the Heart
Failure Team
Increasing local provision for primary lymphoedema sufferers within the local
area negating the need to travel to London Hospitals.
2.5 What others say about us
St Luke’s Hospice is required to register with the Care Quality Commission and its
current registration status is unconditional. The Hospice has no conditions on
registration.
The Care Quality Commission has not taken any enforcement action against St
Luke’s Hospice during 2013/14.
St Luke’s Hospice has not participated in any special reviews or investigations by the
Commission during the reporting period.
St Luke’s Hospice is subject to periodic reviews by the Care Quality Commission and
its last review was in June 2013. Arising from the inspection the Hospice was
deemed to be compliant with no actions to take arising from the Commissioner’s
assessment. The Hospice was rated as low risk.
NHS Number and General Medical Practice Code Validity
St Luke’s Hospice did not submit records during 2013/14 to the Secondary Users
Service for inclusion in the hospital episode statistics, which are included in the latest
published data.
Information Governance Toolkit attainment levels
This is not applicable for St Luke’s Hospice and palliative care.
Clinical Coding error rate
St Luke’s Hospice was not subject to the Payment by Results clinical coding audit
during 2013/14 by the Audit Commission.
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Comments about Services and Quality
i) Care Quality Commission
The CQC Compliance Officer undertook an unannounced one day inspection in June
2013. The subsequent report was very positive and reflected the competence and
enthusiasm of all staff and volunteers.
Observations and Comments from the Compliance Officer included:The Hospice is continuing to develop new services to support people and carers
both in the Hospice and wider health community including those living with long term
health conditions, disability or those who have recovered from cancer and their
carers.
Comments from the Compliance Officer included:
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When we spoke with relatives and service users we were told the care was
excellent…. care plans were very detailed, personalised and contained all the
information required
Staff we spoke with were happy
A service user said ‘my perception of a hospice has changed since I have
been coming here
The provider was working towards a Department of Health information
accreditation, when achieved, this would reflect that the level of information
about their services was at a recognised high level. It should be noted that the
Hospice successfully achieved this award and was the first hospice in the
country to do so)
Staff and volunteer consultation groups met to discuss ways of improving the
services
People we spoke with were very complimentary about the staff and the care
and treatment they received
A service user said ‘It is excellent here. It is like a small family. We all know
each other and nothing is too much trouble. I can’t speak highly enough of the
staff and I have nothing bad to say. The care is good and they have always
got time to explain things to me”
On the day of the visit a partnership event had been organised….This was
helpful to those attending as it emphasised that timely referral helped people
get the right treatment at the right time to gain the maximum benefit from it.
ii) Trustee Provider Visits
Provider visits have been regularly undertaken by the Board of Trustees. The visits
have produced positive and affirming reports in respect of service delivery and staff
and patient satisfaction. Reports regularly highlight the increasing limitations of
available accommodation.
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Comments arising from the visits included:
(Extracts for Staff, Volunteers and Patients –Provider Visits 2013-2014)
“We have a great team”
“I love working with people, love that each day is different; love how challenging and
motivating it can be”
“I feel extremely fortunate to work in such a warm, caring and friendly environment.
The management team are incredibly supportive and approachable at all levels and I
really can’t imagine working anywhere else”
“I just love working here; great place and the people are lovely!”
“The work is enjoyable and everyone works together as a team”
“Ours is a nurturing environment where ideas can be developed and implemented”
‘The patient felt fully supported…. Staff communication to patients was excellent ‘
“Care couldn’t be bettered”
“Wonderful care and my symptoms have been well managed”
“Had no cause to complain, but would feel able to do this “
iii) Staff Satisfaction Survey
Staff were invited to participate in a staff satisfaction survey in October 2013. The
return rate was equivalent to 37.3%.
84.2% of staff commented positively about aspects of the job they particularly liked.
The following are a random sample of comments:
76.3% strongly agreed that they understand the objectives of their role and their
duties and responsibilities whilst 81.6% were clear about the standards they were
expected to achieve.
The majority of staff strongly agreed that the relationship with their manager was
good. 71 % said that they are able to discuss work problems with their manager and
68 % responded that they were able to discuss personal matters with their manager
and understand their manager’s expectations of them. Nobody disagreed.
Although there was a relatively small number of staff who participated in the survey,
some people really made an effort with their comments and appeared to be very
honest with their remarks. Although the majority of staff were positive and
enthusiastic about working at the Hospice there are one or two areas which require
further review by relevant and appropriate Senior Managers, with particular
reference to pay.
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In 2013 there was an overall improvement in ratings for communications and
relationships.
Other Comments
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Still, after all these years, I feel very privileged to work here
The working environment and staff relationship within the organisation are first
class and I find it a good place to work
Easy to take where we work for granted and it would do everyone good on
occasions to take stock and realise what a privilege it is to work at St. Luke’s
in such a special environment with special people and that comes from my
heart
I love it! It’s an open, lovely place to work. You are trusted as an adult and
health professional and because of the ‘can do’ ethos it encourages/enables
high quality services from all departments
My work colleagues have all been incredibly supportive and have helped me
while I have settled into my role here. My manager is approachable and I feel
I am able to discuss any work/personal issues in confidence
I am very happy working at St. Luke’s. I feel very well supported by the whole
team. My managers are very approachable. I feel lucky to be working here
Although I have marked salary and holidays lower, I do appreciate that the
Hospice pays us as much as possible within the budget available. No cost can
be placed on the support we are given and how we are valued and protected
in the job we do. I continue to enjoy my job and would not want to work
anywhere else
I really enjoy my job and working at the Hospice. The Hospice family are
lovely and everyone is friendly and kind. I enjoy the patient based
activities/side of my job, the flexibility and diversity. No two days are ever the
same
Working alongside my colleagues to provide specialist care that is second to
none for those in need
Variety of work and access to the general public and other Health Care
Professionals
Just all of it. It’s so varied and I’ve been so fortunate in all I’ve done and all the
special people at St. Luke’s
Diversity, ability to influence, seeing staff/teams develop and succeed
Love working with people, love that each day is different, love how
challenging and motivating it can be
Research, new ideas, new projects. Involved fully with setting up projects
Diversity of role, supportive and friendly environment in which I work. Excited
about the future and developing hospice services further
iv) What our patients say about us:
(Extracts from Lymphoedema Team Patient Experience – November 2013, Provider
Visits 2013-2014)
“The ladies who do this treatment are fantastic, very informative and friendly. This
treatment is a life saver for me and I know if I have any problems that they are only on
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the end of the phone and willing to help. They also understand the effect it has on a
person’s daily life”
“The care, understanding, time taken to make the person feel relaxed and comfortable
is outstanding. Every member of staff is kind, caring and gentle and St. Luke’s has a
very welcoming aura”
“This is a vital service that is provided which encourages a happier inner state of a
patient”
Services are brilliant ! There is individual care and involvement of a whole range of
therapies all co-ordinated via the Hospice
Wonderful service - my symptoms have been well managed /treated
“Saying thank you does not seem to be enough but myself and the family thank you
all from the bottom of our hearts for the care you gave.”
“My husband I have been amazed at the help we have received, you have made our
sadness a lot more bearable. This should be government funding and not have to rely
on charity. A wonderful service, thank you all so much”
“I really liked it because I met children who have lost someone close to them”
“I liked them very much and they were very kind. Thank you for helping me”
“You are all amazing; thank you for the love, care and attention you gave my brother,
his wife and family and to all the other members of his extended family. We
appreciate all you did in making him comfortable and a very difficult journey slightly
easier. You went above and beyond and we appreciate that. You really are special,
kind and thoughtful people who help patients and families deal and cope with very
difficult conditions/times in their lives. Your care meant so much to all of us”
“You all know how I feel about St. Luke’s, I cannot find enough superlatives – what
more could we ask for?
“You sold St. Luke’s to me on the first day. I thought it would be a place I would come
to once and never again but you are an intrinsic part of what St. Luke’s is all about and
should be very proud of yourselves. What I love about my Tuesdays is being able to
have a laugh and banter, knowing I can be myself
Part 3
Review of Quality performance 2013-14
During 2013/14 there were 4,888 referrals to the services provided by St. Luke’s
Hospice (which was an increase of nearly 26% on the previous year). St. Luke’s
provided care for 6638 patients and clients, which meant we helped nearly 50%
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more people than the previous year, with over 46,784 individual contacts and a
minimum of 27,562 supportive phone calls in addition to home visits.
Lukes Counselling Service for Children & Young People received 200 referrals,
which evidences a 10% increase compared to the previous year, enabling us to help
children, siblings and families as well as providing information and advice in local
schools.
Macmillan Dove Community Counselling Service, our adult counselling service
received 1762 referrals (an increase of 29%) and offered individual/one-to-one
contacts and group therapy as well as providing home visits and telephone support.
Our Information Resource Service had 1738 contacts (an increase of over 21%)
through ‘Outreach Services’ at Basildon Hospital, drop in callers, referrals,
appointments and telephone support. Of these 864 (50%) were initial face to face
contacts, and 304 (17%) were follow up face to face contacts, with 965 telephone
contacts. Of the 1738 contacts a total of 29% were directly from a variety of
outreach projects. Group support also helped patients and/or carers, and a range of
therapeutic and creative support groups were offered throughout the year.
St. Luke’s Hospice at Home provided 38,257 care visits (contacts) to patients in their
own home during 2013/14 (an increase of 20% compared to the previous year). The
number of new referrals to the service during the year was 614, an increase of 14%
with a total of 907 patients being supported in their own homes (an increase of
nearly 20%). Many patients were cared for at home until they died or supported prior
to Hospice admission, thus ensuring choice about place of care or place of death
was achieved wherever possible.
Our Social Work Service received 197 new referrals (a 15% increase from the
previous year) with 210 service users accessing the service.
Our Day Hospice had a significant increase in new referrals compared to the
previous year with a 63% increase and with an annual attendance of 1838 visits (an
increase of over 5% from the previous year).
217 patients were cared for by St. Luke’s Hospice In-Patient Unit. This was an
increase of nearly 7% from the previous year. This continues to represent nearly
31% above the
national average for a same size In-Patient Unit. (Comparison figures from ‘The
National Minimum Data Sets’ against a same size Unit for 2012/13).
Over 315 patients, carers or bereaved people accessed our Complementary
Therapy Service, - an increase of 17% - with clients receiving more than 1341
treatments – a nearly 5% increase from the previous year.
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Our new Specialist Physiotherapy Service was commissioned in January 2013, and
received 374 referrals (2013 – 2014). The team saw 631 patients with 1255 face to
face contacts.
The Hospice supports people with any life-limiting illness and as such nearly 20% of
people with conditions other than cancer were supported in the Hospice, at one of
our satellite venues, or at home.
These figures represent the growing activity across all St. Luke’s Hospice services in
response to the needs of people across south west Essex. Hospice services
respond to the real needs of local people who have individual wishes and choices.
As a result, services grow each year as they meet that demand.
The Hospice regularly monitors activity and performance on a monthly basis. .Data is
incorporated into Corporate and Clinical Governance procedures and reported at
Corporate and Clinical Governance Committee, Senior Management Team meetings
and at Board level. A comprehensive report is also submitted to the Clinical
Commissioning Groups to evidence activity and progress in service delivery.
Statements from Commissioning and Other Bodies
This Quality Account had been shared with Basildon and Brentwood CCG, Thurrock
CCG and the Health Overview Scrutiny Committee, Health Watch Thurrock, Health
Watch Essex.
The following statements have been submitted:
Basildon and Brentwood Clinical Commissioning Group and Thurrock Clinical
Commissioning Group
On behalf of NHS Basildon and Brentwood Clinical Commissioning Group and
Thurrock Clinical Commissioning Group I would like to thank you for submitting your
draft quality account for review. The CCG have reviewed the document submitted
and believe this provides a record of the work that St Luke’s have undertaken.
The priorities set for the coming year have been developed and shared with the CCG
who will monitor the progress and delivery of these through their meetings with St
Luke’s over the coming year, and also via the quality visits that are planned. We are
pleased to note the progress and delivery of the hospice against their 2013/2014
priorities.
Our CCGs work closely with St Luke’s and are exploring and developing models of
care for the south west Essex population and that there are reporting measures in
place to report and monitor services, these developments are reflected by the
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priorities for the 2014/15 period.
William Guy
Head of Commissioning
NHS Basildon and Brentwood CCG
NHS Thurrock CCG
Statement from Healthwatch Essex for St Luke’s Hospice Quality Account
2013-2014
Healthwatch Essex is an independent organisation with a vision to be a voice for the
people of Essex, helping to shape and improve local health and social care
services. We recognise that Quality Account reports are an important way for local
NHS services to report on what services are working well, as well as where there
may be scope for improvements.
We welcome the opportunity to provide a critical, but constructive, perspective on the
Quality Accounts for St Luke’s Hospice, and we will comment where we believe we
have evidence – grounded in people’s voice and lived experience – that is relevant
to the quality of services delivered by St Luke’s Hospice.
In this light, it is therefore necessary to say services provided by St Luke’s Hospice
have not featured significantly either in our programme of research in 2013-14, or the
evidence of people’s voice and lived experience gathered through our outreach or
engagement work.
However, from our reading of the St Luke’s Hospice Account, we are pleased to see
they have been working to improve the experience of patients and carers. The
Hospice has made good progress on their priorities for 2013-14 including - improving
accommodation and facilities, enhancing support for carers, and improving young
people’s transition to services.
The Hospice has a User Group which allows for patients, carers, family members
and friends to get involved in improving patient care and developing services. In the
Account St Luke’s Hospice acknowledges its success is as a result of allowing
service users to contribute to service design and development and ensuring patient
voice is heard. It would be beneficial to see the impact of this by including the
feedback from the annual Service User Questionnaire in the Account.
Healthwatch Essex shares the aspiration of putting patient experience at the centre
of services, and believes that listening to the voice and lived experience of patients,
service users, carers, and the wider population, is a vital component of providing
good quality care. We look forward to working together in the production of Quality
Accounts in the coming year and making sure that the voice and experience of
patients and the public form an integral part of these.
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