- Care home
Abbeyfield Loughborough
Report from 12 August 2025 assessment
Contents
Ratings
Our view of the service
Date of assessment: 29 and 30 September 2025. The assessment was carried out to check if improvements had been made following our last assessment.
Abbeyfield Loughborough is a residential service providing support to younger people, and older people living with dementia. The provider was previously in breach of the legal regulation in relation to staffing. Improvements were found at this assessment and the provider was no longer in breach of the regulation.
The provider had a good learning culture and people could raise concerns. The manager investigated incidents thoroughly. People were protected and kept safe. Staff understood and managed risks.
The facilities and equipment met people’s needs, were mainly clean and any risks identified were mitigated. However, we identified handrails had chipped paint which exposed porous wood making it difficult to clean effectively. Improvements and redecoration were ongoing at the service.
There were enough staff with the right skills, qualifications and experience to care for people. Managers made sure staff received training and regular supervisions to maintain high-quality care.
Medicines were not always stored safely, we identified fridge temperatures had dropped below the required minimum. However, when brought to the provider’s attention this was acted upon promptly. Medicines were administered safely. Staff made sure people understood their care and treatment to enable them to give informed consent. Staff involved relevant people and made decisions in people’s best interests where they did not have capacity. Staff responded to people in a timely way.
The provider supported staff well-being. Staff provided information people could understand. People and relatives knew how to give feedback and were confident the provider took it seriously and acted on it.
Leaders were visible, knowledgeable and supportive. Managers were receptive to new ideas. There was a culture of continuous improvement. There was evidence of positive changes that had been made to the service since our last assessment.The provider made the decision to close Ingleside, an additional part of the service, which reduced their maximum capacity, to enable a more focussed and effective implementation of the required improvements.
People's experience of this service
Most people were positive about the quality of their care. They felt safe and were involved in planning their care where appropriate and understood their rights. People said they received care from knowledgeable staff who treated them as individuals. One person said, “It’s lovely. The staff are angels in disguise. They graft really hard.” People and relatives told us they knew how to raise concerns if required, and were confident action would be taken, and improvements would be made and sustained.
People were involved in decisions about their care. People had choice and were encouraged to maintain relationships with family and friends. One relative told us, “They know [Relative] as an individual, their likes, dislikes, and their [spouse] and children. They know [relative’s] personality. The carers have conversations and remember everything.”
People were treated with kindness and compassion. People had enough to eat and drink to stay healthy. Relatives spoke highly of the improvements made at the service since the last assessment. Comments included, “The rooms are great, but they've been trying to update some of the rest of the building.” Another relative commented, “I think it's a lovely place and I know that [relative’s] comfortable and safe there.”