Health regulators have praised Birmingham’s John Taylor Hospice, stating its staff treat people with ‘kindness, compassion and respect’. Care Quality Commissioners, who visited the hospice unannounced, found the hospice to be ‘good’ in all categories and highlighted the caring attitude of staff and volunteers. The commissioners, who visited on May 25, said staff were ‘kind, empathetic, responsive, creative and proactive in providing care and ensuring dignity for patients’.

They also praised the hospice’s ‘Taylor-made’ care. “People received the care and treatment they needed when they needed it and which met their individual needs.” After inspecting the premises and talking to staff, volunteers, patients and families, they reported: “People and relatives were very positive about the care provided by the hospice and spoke of the friendliness, approachability and empathy of staff.”

The commissioners shared comments from relatives including ‘The staff have been there every step of the way’, ‘we had every possible help we wanted’ and ‘the hospice has given me my life back and helped me live in the moment.’ John Taylor Hospice, which has been supporting people in Birmingham for more than 100 years, was assessed to have met the ‘good’ standard in all five categories: safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led. The commissioners added: “People were enabled to be as independent as possible and were treated with dignity and respect in all aspects of the support staff provided.”

The CQC is the independent regulator of health and social care in England and carries out regular unannounced visits of care homes, acute hospitals and domiciliary care services to judge whether essential standards are being met. Commissioners last visited John Taylor Hospice in November 2013 when they also praised the care provided and found the hospice met all standards. Hospice CEO Penny Venables welcomed the inspection and the report.

“We are delighted the CQC has seen that John Taylor Hospice meets all standards and is kind and responsive to individual need,” she said. “During their visit the inspectors heard from staff, patients and families and saw that we are totally dedicated to providing the very best care. “We believe every moment matters for every person we care for and we were pleased to see that inspectors noted that, commenting on how we always put the patient and their family at the heart of all we do.”

Following publication of the CQC report, John Taylor Chairman Clive Wilkinson has written to all staff to thank them. “Our staff are the reason we are achieving such high standards and this report is a credit to them,” he said. “The hospice Board wants to record its thanks for the staff’s continuing dedication.”
A full copy of the report is available at www.cqc.org.uk