A MIXED picture of standards at Bury Hospice has emerged after an inspection.

On three days in April, monitors from health watchdog the Care Quality Commission visited Bury Hospice in Rochdale Old Road, Bury, and published its findings last Thursday.

The overall verdict is 'requires improvement' — the third best of four possible ratings. The service was given a 'good' rating — the second best possible — for safety, care and responsiveness, but must improve leadership and service effectiveness.

The hospice's interim chief executive Stephen Greenhalgh said he was pleased with aspects of the report and he understood why it requires improvement given what he calls the "serious mistakes" made by past leaders.

Mr Greenhalgh was alluding to the hospice losing £500,000 in a single tax year, leading to bed losses and staff cuts. Finances have drastically improved since.

"We expected the inspectors to require improvements...due to the serious mistakes made over the last few years at board and senior management level," said Mr Greenhalgh.

He added: "We are pleased the CQC has recognised the new governance and senior management regime's positive steps to quickly rectify the well-publicised failings, and that they quote staff saying they feel supported and that 'morale is on the up'."

At the time of the inspection, the hospice had six in-patients, 10 people in the day hospice and 18 people in the community.

Inspectors identified issues around record keeping of quality and safety levels, staff supervision, staff training and nurse registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Council.

That, said the report, means some staff might not have the necessary skills to care for patients.

The final criticism in the report was: "There was no business continuity plan to deal with emergencies that could arise and possible affect the provision of care."

Inspectors went on to praise staff for their kindness and caring attitude.

"The expressions of care and gratitude relayed to us demonstrated that people were cared for with the utmost compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.

"People's privacy was respected and people were assisted in a way that respected their dignity.

"People were supported at the end of their life to have a comfortable, dignified and pain-free death.

"Visitors were made welcome and staff recognised and considered the importance of caring for the needs of family members and friends."

Safeguarding levels were high, food and nutrition levels were high and medicine was kept safe.

Mr Greenhalgh added: “We know from patient feedback, some of which is quoted in the report, that people are extremely pleased with and grateful for the care that is provided to loved ones through Bury Hospice.

"We know there are still improvements needed and it's good to be reassured that we are turning the organisation round through the robust plans that are being set in place."

Visit tinyurl.com/buryhospicecqc to read the full report.