War and inflation, poverty and housing shortages, Corona aftermath and a cyber attack: The year 2022 was not an easy one for the Caritas Association of the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising. Five months late, the association presented last year’s balance sheet on Monday – and the result is bad.
The fact that the report was only presented in December was due to the consequences of a cyber attack in September 2022, which paralyzed Caritas’ digital infrastructure. Rebuilding this required strength from the organization, says board member Thomas Schwarz. “A lot of effort was necessary for this, which is clearly visible in the negative annual result for 2022.” The association was missing around 23 million euros this financial year. 18 million euros alone were set aside for provisions in connection with the cyber attack, for example to enable investments in new hardware and infrastructure. In addition, there were cost increases, especially for energy, water, fuel and food. The loss can be covered by the association’s equity capital.
The association members are also concerned about the lack of staff in the area of child and youth welfare and in the inpatient facilities for the elderly and disabled. If a skilled worker resigns, the position often cannot be filled for several months. Despite the increasing demand, not all open nursing places can be filled, says board member Gabriele Stark-Angermeier.
In July, a more flexible federal personnel assessment procedure for long-term care came into force. It is intended to determine the need for skilled workers individually for each facility. If there are many residents in a home with a high level of care, more skilled workers can be deployed than in a facility with fewer people in need of care. However, more helpers with one or two years of training as well as semi-skilled workers can work there. “Ultimately, it’s about making targeted use of the few skilled workers we have available,” explains Michaela Stern, manager of the Caritas St. Franziskus retirement home.
However, nursing assistants are also difficult to find, and the new law also means enormous organizational effort for the facilities. In order to adequately implement the federal regulation, the Free State must also go along with it, says board member Stark-Angermeier. The country still requires a skilled worker quota of 50 percent, compliance with which is strictly monitored. “There is an urgent need for improvement here on the part of the Free State,” says Stark-Angermeier.
At the end of 2022, the Caritas Association employed 9,914 people, 2,896 of whom worked in retirement homes. In order for there to be even more, foreign nursing qualifications would have to be recognized more quickly and nursing professions would have to be more valued, says Stark-Angermeier. In the public debate, the profession usually appears in connection with grievances. “Care, the service to people, is very fulfilling and varied,” says the board member.
In addition to the lack of staff, the Caritas Association is also concerned about increasing poverty among the population. The persistently rising costs of housing, food and energy threatened the existence of those in need and low earners, but were now also unsettling people in the middle class. Huge increases in construction costs and interest rates also reduced investment activities in the social sector.
Despite the adverse conditions, the Caritas association can go into the future unencumbered, says board member Thomas Schwarz. IT security has now been improved and the infrastructure modernized. For the years 2023 and 2024, a positive balance and surpluses in the single-digit million range are expected again.