Care home owners are aiming to create a “beautiful, welcoming environment” on the site of a home that was shut down after repeatedly being rated inadequate.

The former Ashley Down nursing home in Clarence Place, Gravesend, was forced to close by the Care Quality Commission in October 2020.

It comes after repeated failings led it to be rated ‘inadequate’ or ‘requires improvement’ on six consecutive inspections.

The previous home had also won the dubious honour of being nominated for the “Worst Care Home of the Year Award” – while the most recent report identified serious failings, including staffing problems, gaps in medicine records and the absence of basic health and safety checks.

But now new business owners are hoping to erase the memory of Ashley Down.

Clarence Place Residences, which has no connection with the former business other than its premises, will open later this summer and co-director Trisha Patel is more than optimistic the home will have better ratings than its predecessor.

“We’re not going to fall into that category,” said Trisha, 42, who currently runs a nursery in Southwark with a business partner. “I read the CQC report and I heard stories from consultants about the horrors of some of worst places. It was eye opening.”

She said residents would be the priority in the new home, adding: “It’s about making sure they are in a beautiful, welcoming environment.

“There’s more social space - we’ve reduced the number of rooms, so it’s 18 bedrooms now, and we’ve changed one of the rooms into an additional sunroom, so it’s got beautiful floor-to-ceiling windows.”

And Trisha said she envisaged the care home as an extension of the care already offered at her existing nursery.

“It’s the two parts of life,” she said, “the beginning and the end, when you’re at the most vulnerable. It’s a responsibility of the rest of us to make sure they are looked after as part of society.”

Previously Trisha, from Bermondsey, had a background in operational finance HR, while her business partner had 20 years experience in the care industry.

Having decided that the care home would be an interesting project, she brought in experienced consultants to get the project up and running.

“I’m not naive enough to think I know everything,” she added. “It’s about getting the professionals and helping to make it what it needs to be.

“We’ve hired an experience registered manager with over 20 years experience. The reason we hired him was that for it was also about providing the best care possible.”

She said the new business was “not about the commercial side”, with care provision being a priority above profit.

“Obviously it needs to be commercially viable to be sustainable but it’s not our priority. There’s never any (limited) budget for food or activities. It doesn’t cost a lot to feed people well or to provide activities.”

With society changing, and traditional structures breaking down, she said there was a responsibility for everyone to make sure the elderly were well cared for – and that she aimed to provide an example of the type of places needed at Clarence Place.

“I hope we’ll prove that by people coming in and having a look,” she said. “We’re new to the industry but a lot of it is about human nature and treating people how you would want your grandparents to be treated if they’re in a situation like this - that’s just logic, common sense and compassion.”