BackThe ombudsman uncovered shortcomings in four homes for elderly, none of which is officially registered for providing social care, and she proposed that the state attorneys check of two of them on suspicion of crime.
The facilities formally presented themselves as family hotels but offered social services as social care facilities. As a result, they evaded the checks that state inspectors regularly make in properly registered social care facilities.
The four facilities to a various extent restricted the clients' personal freedom, infringed upon their privacy, administered tranquilisers and other medicines to them in a risky and opaque way. As a result of insufficient meals, the seniors were threatened with undernourishment and dehydration. The staff disrespected human dignity and even the basic sanitary standards in some cases. In some facilities, the clients' payments for they stay exceeded the average old-age pension.
In two facilities, the clients included seniors who only spoke German, with whom the staff was unable to communicate. The ombudsman recommended the four homes' operators that they either have to observe the required criteria or give up this type of business. She reported the cases to the respective regional administrations and recommended that people should not place their family members in these facilities.
Source: Office of the Public Defender or Rights, Czech Republic
