A TYNEDALE charity, which offers vital end of life nursing care to people in their own homes, has been rated good in every category by the healthcare watchdog.

Tynedale Hospice at Home, which provides end of life nursing care, bereavement services and a volunteer transport service, was visited by inspectors from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in February this year.

In a report released following the inspection, the charity has been rated good for being safe, effective, responsive, caring and well-led. This is the first time that all three services: nursing care, pre and post bereavement family support and hospital transport service, have been inspected by the CQC.

The report stated that staff knew about safeguarding, used safe working practices and followed risk assessments, while people had their medicines managed safely.

Inspectors said staff worked closely with hospitals, community organisations and health and social care professionals to ensure people received the right care at the right time.

The inspectors received glowing feedback from service users, including one family member who spoke of “extremely respectful” care and another who shared, “we are extremely fortunate to have had access to such a life changing resource in Tynedale and will never forget the difference the hospice has made to our lives”.

The report read: “We were informed by family members that the Tynedale hospice at home team always took time to understand patients and spent longer with those patients struggling to speak.”

As an area for improvement, the charity was advised to ensure that National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines and quality standards were embedded, as while good practice was followed, not all staff knew which guidance they were following.

Following the report being released, Tynedale Hospice at Home’s head of care services, Fiona Hutchinson, said: “We were particularly pleased to see that the inspectors picked up on the fact that 100 per cent of friends and family survey respondents were ‘likely’ or ‘extremely likely’ to recommend Tynedale Hospice at Home.

“It has been rewarding for our nursing team to read comments about how their care has made patients ‘feel safe and secure’ and how ‘patients trusted the team’”.