His business nursing home in Korydallos most deafeningly highlights “holes” in their work and control system nursing departments. Their licensing and monitoring system has been problematic until recently, and the relevant services are understaffed. According to the president of the Panhellenic Union of Medical Institutions, up to 50 irregular branches can operate in Attica, while MFI employees describe “K” daily challenges and problems due to lack of staff.

Nursing home management system is not perfect

Tanya Georgiopolu

Eight elderly people from the Korydallos Nursing Home, whose inmates lived in appalling and unhealthy conditions, were transferred to the Athens Nursing Home. These are those whose relatives could not be found. The rest, and on the day the block was sealed, there were 35 people, as reported, relatives were transferred to other structures. It has been almost 2.5 years since the Deputy Governor of Piraeus signed the block seal (09/10/2020) to keep it locked. During this time, dozens of elderly people continued to live in the institution, dirty and malnourished, without medical care, and some – the number of guests was constantly changing – seemed to have disappeared!

As the Greek population ages, demographics show, a trend that is not expected to stop, the state has an obligation to protect the care of the elderly. 7.3% of the population is over 80 and 22.6% of the population is over 65. There are 139,296 citizens over 90 in Greece.

The case of the care facility in Korydallos shows in the most deafening way how inadequate and imperfect the system of operation and control of care facilities for the elderly is, that is, people who most likely will not be able to protect themselves in at least them. Critical questions arise: why, when government agencies knew, they did not act immediately? Why did it take the prosecutor two and a half years to intervene and seal the facility when people’s lives were in danger? And, perhaps most importantly, where did the owner get the confidence in impunity and refused to provide the data of dependents and their relatives (district document dated 08/12/2022) so that they would be notified? During the check, a person who presented himself as an administrator “showed 800 euros of unsigned contracts with unclear details of the contracting parties, as a result of which it is unclear exactly how and by whom the import is carried out,” the report says.

Critical issues arising in the case of the Korydallos aged care unit.

The structure of licensing, operation and management of units has until recently been extremely unclear, and the relevant services are understaffed. At the same time, people conducting audits are very often the target of auditees who sue them for “defamation” when they record what they find. A characteristic feature of the situation is that when the Deputy Minister of Labor, Domna Michaelidou, requested data on the nursing departments in Greece for vaccination planning, she found that there was no single register, and the information about the departments was located in the region, region. In order to centrally organize local vaccination, the state has collected data and thus knows that there are 305 licensed private, public or church institutions throughout the territory, about half of which are located in Attica. Some also remain in the “transition period” until the end of the year to comply with the law and obtain a work permit.

The role of the pandemic

The department in charge of inspections in the Attica region is seriously understaffed, and while new recruits have been approved since 2019, as a source in the Attica region used to say, “no new staff has set foot in years.” In practice, this means that the Attica region can carry out two regular inspections per year and an emergency inspection only in the event of a complaint. The period of the pandemic was catastrophic in terms of the operating conditions of the units. Observation is actually carried out by relatives-visitors who see the situation in which their person is. Because of the coronovirus, for two years no one could get into public health centers, as a result of which there is no control.”

Back at the MFI in Korydallos, the company filed an appeal with the Piraeus Administrative Court of Appeal and managed to annul the decision to close the premises, despite the district’s decision. Eight more audit findings followed, but the Piraeus Prosecutor’s Office of First Instance and the Administrative Court of Appeal chose to adhere to the letter of the law, and thus the MFI continued its activities until the publication of the Ombudsman’s report.

Up to 50 irregular units in Attica

Joanna Photiadis

The case of the nursing home in Korydallos was made widely known by the recently enacted fine of 60,000 euros for unlicensed buildings. “It will serve as a deterrent for those who have had such visions,” comments Stelios Prosalikas in “K”., President of the Panhellenic Association of Institutions for the Care of the Elderly (PEMFI) and owner of the institution. “There are about 300 licensed homes throughout Greece, but I estimate there should be up to 50 nursing homes operating illegally in Attica.” As for the conditions there, “you can let your imagination run wild,” he says characteristically.

The shortage of nursing staff is a global problem and has brought the sector to a standstill. As an alternative, the owners resort to the help of carers, even completely unskilled people. At home, of course, relatives with no previous experience take care of the elderly, but usually when choosing to stay in a nursing home, the condition of the elderly worsens.

“During the inspections, many divisions were fined for the number of employees, citing the fact that this is connected and determines the level of service delivery.” A large percentage of those interested have as a “ceiling” 1000 euros, which they can pay to the structures. “However, unfortunately, with today’s prices, the bill does not come out.” In the purely “hotel” part, discounts are allowed, but not in terms of care, care and feeding. Nurses that “K” spoke to, talk about “hospitable” spaces where people bathe once a week and change clothes once a day. “Control by relatives has always been greater and stricter than by the district,” says Mr. Prosalikas. However, since relatives have been absent from the structures for almost three years due to the pandemic, it seems that some have taken advantage of the situation to earn money.

“We offer benefits and long-term care, but with today’s pensions, people cannot meet financially, this also needs support from the state,” he emphasizes and does not rule out an increase in scholarships. And he emphatically adds that “the nursing homes in Chania and Korydallos have discredited an industry that has high standards and has managed to thrive during the pandemic, if we compare this to what happened abroad.”