Praise for city hospice where staff are hailed as ‘angels’

Inspectors visited St Luke’s Hospice in Whirlow, Sheffield, earlier this month for an “informal observation”, to see how members of staff interacted with patients.

They found that staff at the hospice “treated people with dignity and respect by using a positive, friendly and professional approach”, while patients praised the standards of food on offer.

Some patients also described the staff as “angels” and said they were treated with dignity.

Peter Harland, the chief executive of St Luke’s Hospice, said: “We are delighted that the Care Quality Commission had such a positive experience during their most recent visit.

“We have always had complete faith in every member of the St Luke’s team and know that they are delivering the highest standard of care at every level for all our patients and this report simply confirms that.

“With work on our new inpatient unit now well under way, we also know that by autumn 2013 we will once again have a facility that is the pride of the hospice movement, somewhere that not just our patients but all the people of Sheffield can be proud of.”

A fundraising project is well under way to finance the cost of the rebuilding project, which will create 14 single and two triple rooms in what is currently four large wards.

A report by the Care Quality Commission in June found that the current inpatient unit, built in 1971, “no longer meets current best practice guidance”, but still “continues to meet the needs of people who use services.”

That report added: “Overall, the hospice possesses a warm, friendly and welcoming environment.”

St Luke’s Hospice has already raised £1.8m and has also committed £500,000 from its own reserves for the renovations, but a spokesman said it was “now depending on the public to show their support by joining in the fundraising”.

Meanwhile, Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has been shortlisted in the Health Service Journal Efficiency Awards.

The trust has been shortlisted in three categories – administration, acute service design and medicines management.