THE care provided by a children’s hospice charity supporting families across Wiltshire has been rated ‘outstanding’.

An inspection was carried out by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) of the Julia’s House hospice in Devizes as well as its work in the community, caring for children in their family homes.

Julia’s House provides care for children with life-limiting and life-threatening conditions. It was given an overall outstanding rating.

It was rated outstanding for its care and how well led the service was while the service’s safety, effectiveness and being responsive to people’s needs was deemed good.

The report said staff provided “good care and treatment”.and praised them for consistently treating children, young people and their families with “compassion and kindness” and for “always respecting their privacy and dignity”.

“There was a strong, visible child-centred culture and staff provided emotional support to patients, families and carers in every way they could. Children and their family’s social needs were highly valued by staff and embedded in their care and treatment," the report continued.

"Families consistently and overwhelmingly told us they felt truly cared for by the service,” inspectors said.

They said they “felt listened to, cared for and respected”.

However, an area flagged for improvement was the medication policy, which inspectors said, “did not contain clear guidelines on the timescales for review of medication administration charts and some children had not been weighed in line with the service’s medication policy”.

The charity’s chief executive Martin Edwards said: “We are delighted to be judged ‘Outstanding’ as we understand this is now a very rarely awarded rating, which makes it feel especially rewarding. It’s a huge testament to everyone involved in providing care and support for the most seriously ill children and their families in our community.”

“It has been a hugely challenging 18 months, but this rating shows the exceptional care, compassion and standards that we always strive for, as well as the way we have adapted during the pandemic,” he added.

“Our staff, who have worked so hard and in such difficult circumstances to keep us caring, should feel very proud, as should all our volunteers and supporters.”

The report also said that staff were “proactive and innovative” in the way they responded to the child’s needs and family wishes and during the pandemic “sought new ways to support families in line with government guidelines and family wishes”.

To view the CQC report click here. 

Find out more about Julia's House by visiting its website. 

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