Archived: Abbey House - London

People we spoke with said that they liked using the service. In recent feedback people and their families rated the quality of the service positively. One relative said that they were "very pleased" with the service offered and one relative said that staff were "keen to make [people's] lives better". Before people started using the service senior staff undertook an assessment to see what people's care and treatment needs were and whether they would be able to meet them.

Medicines were safely administered. Each individual person using the service had blister packs which contained their medications. We saw written records of weekly checks of the medications and the administration records to ensure that they had been administered correctly.

Appropriate checks were undertaken before staff began work. The provider had an effective system to regularly assess and monitor the quality of service that people receive.

People described staff as "helpful" and the activities they undertook as "fun". When people started using the service, staff gathered appropriate information from other professionals involved in their care. Risk assessments were undertaken to help keep people safe when using the service. Staff knew about the specific health risks to people using the service and what to do in the event of a medical emergency.

People we spoke with told us that they felt "safe" when receiving care and support and liked the staff. Staff had been trained in safeguarding, how to recognise signs of possible abuse and how to report them.

Staff rotas were designed to ensure that there were enough staff on duty to meet the needs of people using the service. Staff received appropriate mandatory and specialist training to meet the needs of people using the service.

There was a complaints system in place which people were made aware of and was in a format that they could understand. People could be supported to make complaints which were responded to appropriately by the service.