As the first of five steps, a so-called whistleblower hotline is to be set up. Those affected should be able to report care deficiencies anonymously.
Munich – The media and social outcry was great – as were the defects found. Two scandals in Bavarian retirement and nursing homes at Schliersee* and in Augsburg* shook the public. The Ministry of Health decided to react immediately. Now the first step of a five-point plan is to be launched: a whistleblower hotline.
Whistleblower hotline is designed to help report deficiencies in care quickly and easily
The health committee of the Bavarian state parliament has dealt with the incidents in the two affected retirement and nursing homes not only once in the recent past. Bernhard Opolony, a representative of the Ministry of Health, announced on Tuesday that there would be a whistleblower hotline for care deficiencies – i.e. a telephone number under which grievances can be reported. “You find deficiencies when there is a complaint, when you know where to look,” Opolony said in the committee. It is important that a corresponding position can also be reached anonymously. Relatives would often refrain from reporting defects for fear that the residents of the home would then have to suffer from them later.
In this specific case, Opolony described a whole chain of problems. First, the home in Schliersee * was cleared – 15 of the residents were brought to the facility of the same institution in Augsburg * at the beginning of October. Since then, the retirement home in Augsburg* has also been under close observation by the supervisory authorities.
After the Corona outbreak, the Augsburg scandal home should be cleared (video)
Holetschek wants a five-point plan for quality assurance
There were official orders to comply with certain requirements – some of them were followed, some of them had to be repeated. At the latest when there was a corona outbreak in January, the carrier, which is known to be particularly cheap, had problems making sufficient staff available. An attempt was made to fill gaps with nurses from Italy. However, due to a lack of language skills, they could not communicate with the residents of the home. In some places, technical supervisors should have taken over the dispensing of medicines.
After the facility was closed by the city of Augsburg, Minister of Health Holetschek announced that he wanted to promote quality assurance in care with a five-point plan. In addition to the whistleblower hotline, there will be an expert discussion on the situation in March. An expert opinion should then discuss whether the structures in care are the right ones. The Association of Municipal Elderly Aid had called for the districts and independent cities to take responsibility for home supervision and put them back under the district governments. The German Foundation for Patient Protection had contradicted this demand. (tel with dpa) *Merkur.de/bayern is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA
