A residential care home in Morden has been told to improve the quality of care it provides to its elderly residents.

Abbey House, in Hillcross Avenue, was visited by inspectors from the government's health watchdog the Care Quality Commission (CQC) who rated it as "requiring improvement" in five categories.

A previous inspection in July 2015 also rated the home as requiring improvement and uncovered two breaches of regulations, yet two years later inspectors again found the provider was still not delivering a good service.

The CQC report said: “We carried out this inspection to see if the provider had continued to make sustained progress. At this inspection we found the provider was not delivering a good service.”

Abbey House, a care home that provides accommodation and personal support for up to 12 older people, specialises in supporting people living with mental ill health, dementia and sensory impairments.

The report said: “The home had not taken steps to mitigate the risks to people’s health and safety as they moved around the premises.

“A large fish pond in the garden was half full of dirty water and was not protected by netting or a grid to mitigate the risk of a person falling in the water.

“Carpets on the stairs were worn and threadbare which may constitute a trip hazard.”

It added: “People were not always supported with their spiritual and cultural needs. There were risks that people might not receive the care they needed because of the inaccuracies in people’s care plans, which may cause confusion when staff were assisting people, especially new staff."

Inspectors said the provider had arrangements in place to respond appropriately to people’s concerns and complaints, with systems in place to gain feedback from people, relatives and staff about the quality of the service being delivered.

The latest inspection took place on 16 and 17 August this year.

*A woman who visits her elderly relative at the care home said the home had taken the recommendations in the report "extremely seriously" and had "wasted no time implementing them."

Mrs Seema Rasul said: " I have witnessed the treatment meted out by the employees of the occupants of the home. 

" As you are aware, these elderly people are mentally impaired. This can be extremely trying and yet the staff are consistently patient and compassionate in their dealing with the occupants." 

She added: " The owner of the home regularly instructs her staff,instilling a caring and compassionate ethos within the care home."