A Jewish Care residential home in North London has transformed its ratings from the care watchdog in little over a year.

In a report published in March 2017, Rubens House was found by the Care Quality Commission to require improvement in all five inspection categories — safety, effectiveness, caring, responsiveness and being well led. 

But in a new report, the home is rated as good in all elements — and overall.

In its findings, the CQC said that during the latest inspection, “we found the service had made appropriate improvements to the issues we identified”. It had also demonstrated plans to maintain the improvements.

Rubens House cares for those with dementia and physical health needs. It had 32 residents at the time of the inspection.

People told the CQC that staff ensured the safety of residents at all times. Risks associated with individual care needs had been identified and the service had procedures in place for the management and administration of medicines.

Residents enjoyed the food — “we saw plenty of drinks and snacks around the home that were available to people as and when they desired”.

The CQC noted that since the last inspection, “significant refurbishment work had been carried out to improve the environment of the home to make it more accessible and dementia-friendly”.

It had further observed “positive and caring relationships people had developed with other people living at the home and with the entire staff team. Issues noted with the use of agency staff had been addressed.”

Care plans were detailed. The provider was in the process of transferring to an electronic care plan system. This was being undertaken on a phased basis to minimise disruption.

Senior management members were always accessible to residents, relatives and staff, “who spoke positively about them and felt confident about raising concerns”.

Neil Taylor, Jewish Care’s director of care and community services, paid tribute to the team at Rubens House for working exceptionally hard, “taking on board the comments from the regulator, as well as relatives and residents, to transform the home. 

 “The new CQC regulatory environment continues to be a learning process for all of us at Jewish Care. This turnaround does indicate we are getting to grips with the regulator’s model for assessment, which at times continues to put paperwork and process above quality personalised care.”