Willow Wood Hospice provides in-patient hospice care and a day hospice from one site. The hospice holds condition specific clinics, has a bereavement support service, therapy services, a fundraising department and a team of volunteers all based on-site. The hospice delivers physical, emotional, spiritual and social holistic care through teams of nurses, doctors, counsellors, a chaplaincy/ spiritual care team and complementary therapists.

The inpatient facility accommodated up to twelve people and provided 8 single rooms and 2 double rooms. At the time of the inspection there were eight people using this service. The service also had its START day clinic where people could attend for a variety of therapies and activities.

The service is a registered charity with a board of trustees. Day to day the service was run by a management team drawn from all departments within the hospice.

There was a registered manager employed for this service. 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. The registered manager was experienced in providing palliative care and worked for the organisation for a number of years.

People and professionals spoke highly of the complementary therapies that were available to both people who used the service and their relatives. The hospice provided family support, counselling and bereavement support. We also saw the service helped people carry out specific wishes such as helping someone get married and providing a wedding dress from one of their hospice charity shops to ensure people and their relatives could achieve their wishes.

People told us that staff were caring, compassionate and listened to them. People we spoke with who received personal care felt the staff were knowledgeable, skilled and their care and support met their needs. We found during the inspection that the people using the hospice services were placed at its centre and were treated very much as individuals and with respect and compassion. People and their relatives told us staff understood their specific needs.

Care plans in regard to all aspects of people’s medical, emotional and spiritual needs were personalised and written in partnership with people so their preferences were made clear. Staff delivered support to people respecting these wishes and preferences about their care and life choices.

People’s health care needs were met by the in-house medical team. This included consultants, GP’s with a special interest in palliative care, an occupational therapy team and a physiotherapy team. We saw the service’s medical team had established links with international services in relation to sharing knowledge and experiences about palliative care and regularly published research in the field.

Care plans were personalised to include people’s wishes and views. People and relatives told us they were consulted about their care and treatment and that they regularly had the opportunity to speak to medical and nursing staff. Care plans were regularly reviewed in a multi-disciplinary framework. We observed staff caring for patients in a way that respected their individual choices and beliefs. We did feedback to the service that information about the hospice for people of different faiths and ethnicity could be displayed more prominently.

Staff recruitment processes were followed with the appropriate checks being carried out. There were sufficient staff on duty to meet people’s needs. We were told by some patients that they sometimes had to wait longer for pain relief or support at night time. Staff we spoke with told they felt there were enough staff and that the registered manager would step in if needed. The hospice had a bank of staff who they could conta

Willow Wood provides palliative care for people living with cancer and other life threatening illnesses. Support is provided for families and carers. The hospice has an inpatient unit and day unit where patients can attend for day care and treatments. On the day of our visit the day unit was closed (it is open Monday to Thursday). There were four inpatients in the hospice at the time of our visit.

We were able to speak with three people who were receiving care and treatment as in patients, and two patients visiting the day unit for a range of therapy and treatments. All feedback was very positive and comments we received included the following:

"It is so nice here. All the staff greet you with a smile, right from the receptionist to the care staff. It's a lovely feeling to feel like a person. The staff are wonderful and it means so much to me."

"The staff put me right at ease."

"I feel well supported by the staff and I feel tons better. The nicest part is knowing I have got support."

From speaking with patients we saw that their views and experiences were taken into account in the way the service was provided and delivered. People we spoke with told us that they felt all their needs were responded to appropriately.

Patients' records were clear, comprehensive and contained relevant information to assist and support staff in providing care in a safe and appropriate way to the individual person. We saw that families were fully involved.

Willow Wood Hospice has an inpatient unit and a day hospice, where people can attend for day care and treatments. All patient and public areas were bright, spacious and well decorated. On the day of our inspection the day hospice was closed (it is open Monday to Thursday), and there were seven inpatients.

We were able to speak briefly to one patient during our inspection, and we saw a selection of recently completed day hospice satisfaction questionnaires. All feedback was positive, with patients telling us they liked their room and the staff were very caring. Patients said they knew how to make a complaint.

Patients’ records were very clear and contained a full history of patients’ illness and the current treatment and care required. Evidence was seen of patients, and families if patients requested it, being involved in discussions about their care and treatment. They were given honest information and were able to make decisions about what care and treatment they preferred. We saw that consent was given before any treatment or care was carried out.

A variety of appetising food was provided, and staff told us they tried to give patients small meals of what they wanted at the times they wanted it.

The staff records we saw showed that a robust recruitment process was followed to ensure staff had the required skills and experience.

People who use services told us that they were very happy with the services provided by the hospice and felt well cared for. Some of the things we were told were, ‘ the care is excellent attentive but not intrusive', 'privacy is managed well'. People spoke positively about the staff who looked after them. They told us that they felt staff listened to them and acted on any requests for information or explanation about treatments.