The Marie Curie Hospice, Liverpool provides specialist palliative care and support for adults with a terminal illness. The hospice service is available to all, free of charge. We last inspected Marie Curie Hospice, Liverpool on 19 September 2013 when we found the service to be compliant in all of the areas we looked at.

The service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission 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. At the time of our visit the hospice had a registered manager and a number of other senior staff with responsibility for various aspects of the service.

The hospice provides an in-patient service for a maximum of 30 people, also day services and out-patient clinics. They provide social and emotional support in people’s own homes but this does not include nursing or personal care.

In-patient care is provided by a specialist team of doctors, nurses, healthcare assistants, therapists and social workers. They are supported by housekeeping and maintenance teams, administration staff and volunteers.

During our visits we saw that the premises were safe and clean and a programme of regular planned maintenance was in place. The hospice was supported by a comprehensive pharmacy service and policies, procedures and support documentation were in place to ensure that medicines were stored, handled, administered and disposed of in a safe and appropriate manner.

Staff received annual mandatory training and were supported in their roles by the management team. People who used the service had a choice of nutritious meals and every effort was made to accommodate individual dietary needs and preferences. People’s capacity to make decisions and give consent was assessed and recorded in accordance with the Mental Capacity Act (2005).

People who used the service, and their families, told us that they were treated with kindness, compassion and respect.

The quality of the service was assessed and monitored regularly by a series of auditing tools. People who used the service, and their families, were encouraged to give feedback and their observations and comments were published and acted on.

We found that patients were treated well, with dignity and respect. They were given appropriate information and were fully involved in their care and treatment. Patients told us:

“They always treat you with dignity and respect, and it’s a very friendly atmosphere”,

We found that patients care and treatment was assessed, planned and delivered in order to meet their needs. Care and treatment plans were fully documented and reviewed. Patients and relatives told us they were very satisfied with the service provided. Some comments made included:

“It’s fantastic, nothing is too much trouble and they make you feel important”,

“It’s excellent here, they do everything well”

Staff demonstrated knowledge and awareness of safeguarding people from abuse and they were supported by appropriate guidance and policies.

There were suitable numbers of experienced and qualified staff. Staffing levels were determined to ensure safe and effective care and treatment was given.

Records were found to be accurate and stored safely and appropriately. Record management was supported by relevant policies.

During our inspection we spoke with seven of the people staying at the hospice and with nine of their relatives. Everyone we spoke with was positive about the service provided.

People told us that they had always had their care and treatment discussed with them. A relative explained, “They know what they are doing. Always got time to talk and explain” and one of the people staying there told us, “They explain everything”.

People told us that they had received the support they had needed with their care and welfare, one person said, “Your whole wellbeing is catered for”. This was further evidenced by care records and in the support we observed during our visit.

Information about how to raise a concern, complaint or potential safeguarding issue was readily available and we found that people staying at the hospice felt confident to raise any issues that they may have had. Staff had guidance and information available to deal with any potential safeguarding adult’s issues that may have arisen.

The people staying at the hospice told us that they had confidence in the staff supporting them. We found that staff had received the training and support they had needed to undertake their role effectively.

We visited the hospice and spoke to patients. They all told us they were extremely satisfied with the service given at the hospice. They said they were very satisfied with the way they were able to be involved in the care and choices. We were told “I drive my plan, I say what I want to happen and they listen to me”, “Your views and feelings are respected”.

Patients told us they were involved in the care planning, able to express their views, had their thoughts listened to and were able to make changes to the care plan in conjunction with staff. They told us they were treated with respect and dignity at all times. Patients told us the food was excellent, choices at mealtimes very good and the chef would always prepare other food not on the menu if the patient so wished.

We spoke to a number of patients who expressed their extreme satisfaction with the service provided. Those we spoke to praised the staff and care given at the hospice saying “ They are excellent, they can’t do enough for you”, “The service is excellent – like a five star hotel” “I can’t praise it enough”, “This is the best place to be second to living at home”.

They told us care was individualised with personal attention. They all said they were treated respectfully and privacy and dignity was maintained even when assisting with personal care.