ALL aspects of care at Prospect Hospice’s in-patient unit and day service have been highly praised following a thorough inspection by the health watchdog.

From patient care, to staff supervision, cleanliness and management of medication, the Care Quality Commission could not find fault with the Wroughton charity, which provides end-of-life care to around 2,000 terminally-ill people each year.

The constant focus on patients’ wishes, down to their meal preferences, was singled out in the report published following the visit on February 25.

Nurses and consultants’ warmth and professionalism also stood out.

“The staff team worked with other professionals and community services to try to meet the wishes of an individual’s preferred priority of care for end of life,” they said.

“They told us that the wishes of the people were paramount and that staff worked closely with families and people to ensure, where possible, that there was agreement to the care and treatment they wished to receive.

“All the people receiving a service and their relatives we spoke with during our visit were positive about the care and treatment they received from the staff team. People told us the staff were caring and professional.

“One person we spoke with told us: ‘The staff are out of this world. I feel blessed that I have been allowed to have a bed here’. They said that the chef came round each day to ask them what they wanted to eat. They told us ‘I can have whatever I fancy’.

“We spoke with one person who accessed the day services. They told us they were able to access a variety of different activities which they had found beneficial to their well-being.”

Staff themselves were well supported by the management team who ensured they felt valued, the report noted.

“Staff had access to a range of support,” inspectors went on.

“This could be either in the form of a one-to-one meeting, group supervision or department meeting. Staff we spoke with received annual appraisals where personal development was discussed.

The findings were warmly welcomed by Prospect Hospice chief executive Angela Jordan.

“I am delighted that we have met, and seem to be performing well above, the five essential standards assessed by the Care Quality Commission,” she said.

“This high quality standard of care is what Prospect Hospice consistently seeks to provide, and is only made possible by the continuing, extraordinary support we receive from local people and organisations, and of course the coordinated efforts of all our volunteers and staff who are, in many ways, the gold dust of Prospect Hospice.

“A huge thank you to everyone who has made this possible.”

£160,000 TARGET WILL PROVIDE VITAL FUNDING

To mark its 160th anniversary, the Adver launched one of its most ambitious campaigns to date in February, the 160 Appeal, in a bid to raise £160,000 for Prospect Hospice.

Throughout the year along with activists, fundraisers and the support of the community the Adver will strive to collect the mammoth sum, desperately needed by the Wroughton charity which must secure £5.8 million each year to continue caring for the people of Swindon and North Wiltshire.

The organisation, which was founded in 1980, receives less than 30 per cent of its income from statutory bodies such as the NHS to support a community of around 300,000 people - some living as far afield as Gloucestershire.