Little Bridge House

157 children, young people and their families use the services at Little Bridge House. The hospice can accommodate up to eight children or young people and there are additional facilities and suites to enable parents and siblings to stay at the hospice with the child.

The hospice supports babies, children, teenagers and young adults up to the age of 21 with life limiting or life threatening conditions and provides accommodation for respite (short breaks), and end of life care.

We last inspected Little Bridge House in December 2013 and the service met the regulations.

There was a registered manager at the service who had been in post since 2014. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service and has the legal responsibility for meeting the requirements of the law; as does the provider.

The children we met during the inspection had complex needs and were not able to tell us their experiences because of their complex ways of communicating. We observed how the staff interacted with the children and their families.

Staff were caring and showed children and their families kindness and compassion. Staff were very motivated and demonstrated a commitment to providing the best quality care to children, young people and their families.

Children received care and support in a personalised way. Children and young people had good links and access to the healthcare support they needed during their stays at the hospice. All parents were happy with the care provided by Little Bridge House. Staff knew children well and understood their complex needs.

Parents told us their children were safe in the care of Little Bridge House. Children were relaxed and comfortable with staff. Staff knew how to recognise any signs of abuse and how they could report any allegations.

Any risks to children and young people’s safety and health needs were assessed and managed in order to minimise the risk.

Children and young people and their families including siblings received a responsive service. Their needs were fully assessed, planned for and met. Children, young people and families were involved in developing care plans and keeping these under review.

Children and young people were supported to play, develop and take part in activities and new experiences in the hospice.

Parents gave positive feedback about the qualities, skills and knowledge of the staff. Staff were recruited safely and received an induction, core training and specialist training so they had the skills and knowledge to meet children and young people’s needs. It is recommended that the staff’s competency for completing specific tasks is reassessed periodically. This is to make sure they are competent and have retained the right skills and knowledge.

Overall children’s and young people’s records were accurately maintained. However, we identified some minor shortfalls in records keeping and this was an area for improvement.

There were safe systems in place to manage and administer medicines. Children and young people were protected from the risks of infection by the systems and equipment in place.

We found the hospice building was well maintained. The hospice was designed and decorated to meet the specialist needs of the children and young people.

There was a children, young people and family focused culture at the service. Children, young people and families were involved and consulted about all aspects of the service. There was a clear management structure and staff, children and young people and their families felt comfortable talking to the managers. There were systems in place to monitor the safety and quality of the service provided. An improvement plan was being developed to drive continuous improvements across the service.

We met with eight staff on duty, including two new staff during their induction period. There was a strong commitment to team working at the hospice. We met one parent and spoke with a sibling of a child who used the service on a regular basis. Both people told us they built up trusting relationships with the staff team over several years and were able to comment on any aspects of their stay whether good or negative. This meant people felt valued when using the service.

We looked at five standards. We checked medication was stored and managed safely. We assessed the environment. We inspected staff recruitment processes to ensure children and families using the service were supported by suitable care workers. We also looked at the provider's systems for monitoring and maintaining quality at the service and how the provider informed and communicated with us regarding untoward incidents and accidents. The provider was compliant with all five standards we inspected. Children and families using Little Bridge House receive attentive personalised support that is well managed, responsive to individual need, safe and caring.

We found that children were receiving individualised support based on detailed and up to date care plans. Staff could meet children's current needs as they had good knowledge of the care plans. Children had been consulted about their care needs and their views were respected by the staff team. Parents were given advice and support by skilled staff on duty in sufficient numbers to offer individual attention.

Parents and children had stayed at the hospice on previous occasions. They told us the standard of cleanliness there was consistently high. On the day we visited the environment was clean and hygienic. The provider had robust systems in place to maintain high standards. People told us the staff were approachable if they wanted to raise any comments about their stay. We looked at the provider's complaints process and saw that this was both fair and thorough.