A senior civil servant spent several days at Manorlands to see frontline care staff in action.

Five Department of Health (DoH) bosses visited Sue Ryder hospices across the country as part of the initiative.

They shadowed staff and saw first-hand the standard of care provided to patients with terminal illnesses.

The venture was designed to help the DoH better understand the experiences of people receiving care and followed in the wake of the Francis report, which highlighted the poor provision at Mid-Staffordshire hospital that led to many unnecessary deaths.

The report stressed the importance of ensuring Government policies were grounded in the realities of people’s experiences.

Glowing feedback was provided by Robert Edmonds-Jones, the civil servant placed at Manorlands, who described it as “a fantastic asset to have in any community”.

Lizzie Procter, palliative care services manager at the hospice, said: “We were delighted to invite a senior member of the Department of Health to undertake the placement over a number of days and learn more about how we provide round-the-clock compassionate care tailored to individual needs and wishes.

“The glowing feedback is testament to the hard work and commitment of our healthcare teams in providing the highest standards of personalised care.

“We will continue to offer placements of this type and are delighted that the Department of Health has offered return placements for our staff to understand more about the work the department undertakes.

“We hope that lessons from the Government’s initiative will be used to ensure that care improves across the NHS. And we will continue to work with the Department of Health on developing guidelines for charities on how they can best use the Francis report to improve standards of care.”

Sue Ryder was one of the first charities – and the first hospice provider – to be involved in the initiative and offer placements.