Teesside Hospice awarded ‘Outstanding’ in recent Care Quality Commission inspection

We are delighted to share that Teesside Hospice has been awarded an ‘Outstanding’ rating following a rigorous inspection by the Care Quality Commission (CQC)!

The inspection, which took place in June, assessed the standard of care across all of our services, which includes a 10-bed Inpatient Unit, Wellbeing Centre, Bereavement Counselling Service and Lymphoedema Clinic.

Teesside Hospice was awarded Outstanding in four out of five categories - effective, caring, responsive and well-led - reflecting our commitment to ensuring patients and families receive compassionate and dignified care when they need it most.

As part of the inspection, the CQC spoke to people using our services at the time, hearing that they were ‘so happy to be there’ and ‘could not fault anything’. Our team were also described as ‘going above and beyond’ in their everyday care and patients who had accessed services described their experiences positively as ones they ‘would never ever forget’.

Heather Stuart, Group Director of Nursing & Quality at Teesside Hospice, said: “This is an exceptional reflection of the commitment, professionalism, and compassion demonstrated across all teams. 

“To read in the report that inspectors recognised how our department heads and teams really embodied the culture of improving our services and values of our organisation really stands out.  

“The whole hospice team – whether that’s nursing and clinical staff, housekeepers and cooks, or the admin teams who keep everything running smoothly – go the extra mile every single day and to have that recognised is a huge honour.

“I’m so proud of the whole team and know that they will do all they can to continue to reach such a high standard of care.”

The CQC highlighted our commitment to providing the best possible care and communicating strongly with those who use our services, as well as the manner in which the Teesside Hospice has embedded itself in the local community and is striving to reach disadvantaged groups of people.

Gill Hodgson-Reilly, CQC deputy director of operations in the North East, said: “When we inspected Teesside Hospice, we found an exceptional service where staff and leaders worked hard to provide the best possible care to people at the end of their lives. Kind and caring staff understood people’s needs and went the extra mile to help make their time at the hospice comfortable and happy. 

“Leaders had an exceptional understanding of the service they managed and ensured people were given the best possible care. Staff told us leaders were consistently approachable, even out of hours and we saw leaders engage with people attending the service during our visit.

The report also noted how our teams are finding new and innovative ways to reach the growing need for care across Teesside.  

Gill continued: “Leaders and staff should be very proud of the findings in this report. It’s clear the service was committed to treating people as individuals ensuring their wellbeing and needs were fully met. Other services should look to this report to see if there’s anything to learn from it.”

Mike Thornicroft, CEO of Teesside Hospice, said: “I’m so incredibly proud that our Teesside Hospice team has been rated Outstanding following the CQC inspection.

“On behalf of myself, our Senior Leadership Team and Board of Trustees, I want to thank every person who has made this possible, for their exceptional care, passion and dedication to our cause. 

“And we want to keep building on this, continuing to innovate and reach even more people across the region to ensure that nobody in Teesside has to die without proper end of life care and support.”

The full CQC inspection of Teesside Hospice will be published on the CQC website in the coming days.