Royal Trinity Hospice celebrates being awarded ‘Outstanding’ quality rating by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

Royal Trinity Hospice is celebrating after being awarded the highest possible quality rating – Outstanding – by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

The independent health and social care regulator praised Trinity for “going the extra mile” for its patients and said the hospice delivered outstanding care.

The CQC found Trinity staff to be “continually kind and compassionate as they put patients and their relatives at ease” and “observed that patients, family members and friends are always treated with dignity and respect.”

In addition, inspectors found the hospice to be outstanding in meeting the needs of people from the whole community.

Inspectors rated Trinity as Outstanding in three of the five domains assessed by the CQC, with the top grade being given in the categories of caring, well-led and responsive.

The remaining two domains – effective and safe – were rated as Good. Trinity’s last CQC inspection in 2014 found it to be Good overall.

Every year Trinity provides free palliative and end of life care to 2,500 patients living in Wandsworth and parts of Lambeth, Merton, Richmond, Hammersmith & Fulham, Westminster and Kensington & Chelsea.

As well as supporting patients in its Clapham-based inpatient unit, 80 per cent of Trinity’s work takes place in the community, visiting patients wherever they call home.

The hospice also provides a range of psychological and social support for families, carers and loved ones of all ages.

Dallas Pounds, chief executive of Royal Trinity Hospice said: “Here at Trinity we are proudly committed to excellence in all we do.

“To have this recognised independently by the CQC is a fantastic and well-deserved recognition that we are succeeding in delivering an excellent service.

However, this accolade will not stop us from continuing to strive for improvement and further excellence.

“Our ageing population means that the demand for our services continues to grow and our patients’ needs become more complex.

“We will need to maintain and develop our culture of innovation and responsiveness to meet these changing needs and maintain the excellence of our services, as well as raising more funds to deliver them.”

Dr Nigel Acheson, deputy chief inspector of hospitals (London and South), said: “I am always delighted when a provider achieves an Outstanding overall rating. The staff and leadership team at Royal Trinity Hospice deserve fulsome praise for the service they provide.”