Abbey House - Morden

Updated 28 August 2021

The inspection

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

This inspection was conducted by one inspector.

Service and service type

This service is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

The service is managed by an individual provider, so there is no condition on their registration requiring a registered manager. This means they are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection

The first day of the inspection was unannounced, the second day was announced.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since it had registered with us. We used this information to plan our inspection.

We did not ask the provider to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report.

During the inspection

We spoke with the three people using the service, the owner/director, the deputy manager and two care workers.

We reviewed a range of records. This included three care records, three staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including complaints, incident forms, policies and procedures were reviewed.

After the inspection

We spoke with two relatives of people using the service and received feedback from one visiting professional.

Updated 28 August 2021

About the service

Abbey House – Morden is a care home for up to 12 people with mental health needs, at the time of the inspection there were 10 people using the service.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

We received positive feedback from people and their relatives about the care and support they received at Abbey House – Morden.

At the previous inspection, we found the provider needed to make improvements in relation to the areas of concern we found including staffing, safe care and treatment and good governance. At this inspection, we found that sufficient improvements had been made.

People told us they felt safe living at the home. The provider carried out risk assessments which helped to ensure that people were safe from harm. Checks were also completed on the environment and equipment within the home to ensure it was a safe place for people to live in. There were robust recruitment checks in place which meant staff were safe to work with people. People received their medicines as prescribed and we were assured that the provider had safe infection prevention and control procedures in place, including in relation to the management of COVID-19.

Staff attended training that was relevant to their roles and they received ongoing supervision with regards to their work practice. People received the appropriate level of support in relation to their nutrition, hydration and ongoing health needs. The provider worked with other agencies to provide effective care.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

Care plans were reviewed on a regular basis and contained details of people’s ongoing support needs, including end of life care. People were supported to maintain relationships that were important to them. The provider acted upon any complaints that were received and responded appropriately.

The service was well-led. Regular quality assurance checks were completed, and the provider sought the views of people, relatives and staff in terms of how the service was run.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection and update.

The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 30 May 2019) and there was a breach of regulation in relation to safe care and treatment, staffing and good governance. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve.

At this inspection enough improvement had been made and the provider was not in breach of regulation in relation to safe care and treatment, staffing and governance.

Why we inspected

The inspection was prompted due to the previous rating and the breaches found at the last inspection. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine improvements against the breaches. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of Safe, Effective, Responsive and Well-led only.

We reviewed the information we held about the service. No areas of concern were identified in the other key questions. We therefore did not inspect them. Ratings from previous comprehensive inspections for those key questions were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection.

The overall rating for the service has improved to Good. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Abbey House - Morden on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

We will return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.