The Alan Hudson Day Treatment Centre is a day hospice, based at the North Cambridgeshire Hospital in Wisbech, which supports people who are living with a life-limiting illness and their families. The Centre’s multi-disciplinary palliative care team provides a service which includes day therapy; treatment and clinical days (including haematology and oncology work); complementary and diversional therapies; and bereavement and support services. Additionally the Centre supports people and their families with outpatient visits and provides clinical advice and support to people receiving palliative care on the adjacent 16-bed Trafford Ward.

The provider, Arthur Rank Hospice Charity, also provides a range of services, including a number of in-patient beds, at the Arthur Rank Hospice in Cambridge.

The Alan Hudson Day Treatment Centre (the Centre) has been offering a service to the people of Wisbech and the surrounding area for a number of years. The service was transferred from the NHS to the Arthur Rank Hospice Charity in August 2015. This is the first ratings inspection since registration. This inspection included two inspection visits to the Centre, on 21 and 27 July 2017.

This service requires a registered manager as a condition of its registration. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run. There was a registered manager in place. She had been managing the Centre for 11 years and was registered with the CQC in January 2017 when the Arthur Rank Hospice Charity was registered as the provider.

The warm, welcoming and relaxed atmosphere at the Centre provided people and their families with a safe haven at some of the most difficult times of their lives. People were made to feel comfortable and were provided with care and treatment by an exceptionally caring and supportive staff team.

People had developed complete trust in the staff and told us they felt safe at the Centre. Staff had been trained to an extremely high standard and had developed skills to enable them to do their job safely and well. They were competent and confident to recognise and report if a person, or their family members, were at risk of avoidable harm or abuse. Potential risks to each individual were assessed and guidelines put in place so that the risks were minimised.

Staffing levels were very good and there were enough staff on duty, with a range of skills, to make sure people were safe. Staff underwent a robust recruitment procedure, which ensured that only staff suitable to work at this service were employed. Medicines were administered and managed safely and fully in line with national guidance.

Staff received a thorough induction, which included attending the provider’s Cambridge service for some training topics. A very wide range of training, some of which was at degree level, was offered to staff to ensure they had the skills and knowledge to care for people in the best way possible. Staff’s competence to perform certain tasks was monitored a number of times until the registered manager and the member of staff were both confident that the staff member was able to perform the task safely and well.

The CQC monitors the operation of the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005 and the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS), which apply to care services. Staff fully understood the principles of the MCA and DoLS and ensured that people were empowered and supported to make decisions about every aspect of their life.

People were supported and encouraged to eat and drink well and the food provided was nutritious, tasty and met people’s special dietary needs when required. Staff liaised with a wide range of external healthcare professionals to ensure that each perso