Andrew Cohen House in Birmingham is the latest communal residential home to fall below the level considered acceptable by Care Quality Commission inspectors.

In a new report, the CQC has found that the home requires improvement, despite a rise in standards.

A February 2015 report graded the home as inadequate - the CQC's lowest rating - and it was barred from accepting new residents. The ban was lifted last summer and it currently has around four dozen clients.

The CQC accepted that the service was now better led and more effective, although "not always".

As well as the overall rating, it was deemed to require improvement in all five component categories - safe, caring, responsive, effective and well-led.

Inspectors reported that "staff did not always treat people with respect" and that "systems and processes were not effective".

They had observed "many short interactions between staff and people that were not kind or respectful" during the inspection.

Examples included "people being given tea or food without being spoken to, people being wheeled about the home with no interaction from staff and staff talking about people as if they were not present".

Estelle Rowe, the new chair of trustees, said the full report showed that the home had provided "significant evidence of improvement".

She stressed that "particular focus" was being directed at problems identified by the CQC - and that Alison Mulligan, who was appointed as home manager after the inspection, was tackling them.

"It's something that we take incredibly seriously. Alison has been with us for four weeks now. It took us some time to find her, but one of the reasons we did appoint her is that she has the experience to tackle the day-to-day staffing issues that were highlighted in the report. Unfortunately, the categories CQC use are quite broad and though they acknowledge the improvement, it didn't quite take us into the 'good' category."

The home was also "working towards becoming a centre of excellence for dementia care for the elderly".