Peterborough’s Coloplast declared ‘outstanding’ by health regulator

Annemarie van Neck, general manager of Coloplast UK.

Peterborough-based medical appliances provider Coloplast has been declared outstanding for its nursing and telehealth service.

Coloplast, which employs about 500 people in offices at Lynch Wood and a distribution centre at Peterborough Gateway, has been awarded the highest rating by national health regulator, the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

The company is the only one in its field to have received an outstanding rating for such service in England.

The nursing and telehealth service is how Coloplast UK partners with the NHS, other healthcare providers and charities to support individuals with intimate healthcare needs, such as those living with a stoma or needing to perform intermittent self-catheterisation.

It gives patients access to specialist care and support from Registered Nurses, as well as ensuring that they have the products they need delivered to their door.

For patients with a stoma or requiring continence support, the service provides much needed guidance and advice to help them to live life to the full.

Over the last year, 41,500 people used the service, which patients and carers described to the CQC as having staff who are ‘committed and prepared to go the extra mile to provide care for their patients’.

The CQC inspection report also noted that the staff at Coloplast’s nursing and telehealth service ‘treated patients with compassion and kindness, and respected their privacy and dignity.

‘Staff took account of their individual needs, and helped them understand their conditions.’

It also stated that staff were ‘highly dedicated and passionate’.

The CQC spoke to 23 members of staff, 10 patients and two carers.

Annemarie van Neck, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Coloplast UK & Ireland, said: “I already knew that the staff we have and the service we provide is truly outstanding, and this fantastic news from the CQC confirms it.

“This rating is testament to the incredible work the team does every day to make life easier for people living with intimate healthcare needs.

“I am proud of all that we do to and the dedication shown by members of staff, particularly through the difficult last 18 months when our patients have needed us most.”

Coloplast’s Director of Nursing, Mary Speirs, and the Telehealth Clinical Lead, Wendy Osborne, said: “This is a fantastic recognition of the hard work the team at Coloplast have put in and we could not be any prouder of what they have achieved.

“This Outstanding CQC rating means that patients and healthcare professionals can continue to have the utmost confidence that our nursing and telehealth services are nationally recognised for providing high quality care.

“We are constantly striving to evolve and improve the service we deliver, and this rating will spur us on even further.”

Peterborough MP Paul Bristow, said: “This is a great achievement by Coloplast which employs so many of my constituents.

“This reinforces the fact that patients can trust the advice and support that they receive from this service, which has been carefully designed to meet their needs and help improve their quality of life.

“I congratulate all involved.”

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