A children's hospice which improves the lives of terminally ill children and their families in Oxfordshire and the surrounding counties has been rated 'outstanding'.

Helen & Douglas House Children’s Hospice in Oxford was inspected by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) on  July 18.

The inspectors said staff understood and respected the personal, cultural, social and religious needs of children, young people and their families and how they may relate to care needs.

The service met the needs of all children and young people who used the service – including those with protected characteristics.

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Children and young people received pain relief soon after requesting it and inspectors saw staff regularly checking pain levels of the children.

And when things went wrong, staff documented incidents well and the service learned from them to improve people’s care in future. 

Roger James, CQC deputy director for the south, said:  “When we inspected Helen & Douglas House, we found a service where staff were very knowledgeable about the children and young people they looked after.

"They knew how to support children, young people and their families in an individual, personalised way and this was reflected in the level of detail in patient care plans.

“The service was leading the way nationally in educating third parties on the complex needs of paediatric palliative care.

"Leaders encouraged innovation and staff participation in research. We saw some staff were on numerous boards that led to the implementation of guidance and legislation and were members of national committees relating to the paediatric palliative care.

“This was supported by a skilled leadership team, who led by example to promote an open and person-centred culture. 

"We saw numerous examples of staff going the extra mile, especially regarding make a wish requests.

“The team at Helen & Douglas House should be really proud of the care they’re providing.

"Other service providers should look at this report to see if there’s anything they can learn about supporting people during such a difficult time in their lives.”    

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Andrea Lambert, clinical director, said: “It is wonderful to receive this external recognition which reflects the positive comments we receive from the families we care for and supports our aim to be world-class.

“This ‘outstanding’ rating recognises our approach of putting the families we care for at the heart of everything we do.

“The vital care we provide is only possible through kind donations from the general public."

You can donate to the hospice's Christmas Appeal at hdh.org.uk and there will be a Christmas Shopping Preview Day on Sunday November 26 at its charity shops.