Barnsley Hospice told to improve after being rated 'inadequate' for second year running

Barnsley Hospice in Church Street remains in special measures following an unnannounced inspection in January by a team from the Care Quality Commission.

The CQC’s head of hospital inspection, Sarah Dronsfield, said it was concerning that there were still some breaches which had not been addressed since the last inspection in April 2021, which gave it an overall inadequate rating. The breaches include ensuring incidents are properly reported and investigated.

Numbers of nursing staff had been increased since November and all had mandatory training, the team found.

However two of the bank nurses and one of the bank medical staff had not completed mandatory training along with a member of the medical staff.

Inspectors also found staff did not always complete and update risk assessments and the assessments “did not consider patients who were deteriorating or were in the last days or hours of their life”.

Their report refers to a deteriorating patient being checked at 3.05am, but not again until 5.30am, when the person was found not to be breathing. When interviewed staff contradicted each other as to whether they had checked in on the patient in the meantime.

However inspectors also noted that staff “took time to interact with patients and those close to them, in a respectful and considerate way” and the unit was “quiet and calming”.

Ms Dronsfield said they would return to make a re-inspection, adding: “At that point, if we’re not satisfied sufficient changes have been made and embedded, we won’t hesitate to take further enforcement action to keep people safe.”

Martine Tune, the hospice’s chief executive officer and chief nurse, said they accepted they had fallen short in meeting some of the standards required.

She said: “We want to assure the people of Barnsley that we are making extraordinary efforts to work with the CQC and address all issues raised as part of our continuous improvement journey.”

Barnsley Hospice, which is operated by Barnsley Hospice Appeal, has 10 inpatient beds, and provides day hospice services, bereavement and family support.

The hospice’s ratings for being safe and well-led remain “inadequate”, while being effective remains deemed “requires improvement” and caring remains rated as “good”. Being responsive has improved from “inadequate” to “requires improvement”.