Nursing home residents and their relatives repeatedly report poor levels of care. An anonymous contact point should help. A good two years after the launch, demand remains high. As the Bavarian Ministry of Health announced at the weekend, 853 specific complaints have been received since the “Care SOS Bavaria” project began. In total, the office has been contacted a good 1,500 times since March 2022.
Health Minister Judith Gerlach (CSU) emphasized that it was important that all calls were treated confidentially. “People should be able to trust that they or their relatives will receive the best possible care in care facilities.” There are more than 1,600 nursing homes across Bavaria in which “most of the nursing staff do a very good job. This makes it all the more important that we identify and correct grievances as quickly as possible so that the care does not fall under false general suspicion.” Every tip will be followed up immediately. The project was created under Gerlach’s predecessor Klaus Holetschek, who took office at the end of October.
According to the ministry, all SOS nursing employees have a nursing background. They should assess the complaints, advise callers and, if necessary, forward them to the relevant authorities. “We take every call, every email and every letter we receive very seriously,” said LfP leader Achim Uhl. “It is primarily relatives or other close people who contact us. But employees and nursing home residents also use the Care SOS Bavaria.”
The focus of the 853 complaints was, for example, staffing, but also the quality of care and treatment. Quality of care includes issues such as poor personal hygiene or nutritional provision. Complaints about treatment include that medications are not given or wounds are not adequately cared for. If complaints are confirmed and facility owners do not adequately fulfill their responsibility for high-quality care, the responsible bodies intervene – the specialist departments for care and facilities for the disabled, quality development and supervision (FQA), the medical service of the health insurance companies located at the district offices, or the police.
The “Pflege-SOS Bayern” can be reached free of charge Monday to Thursday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Friday from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. – by telephone on 09621/966 966 0 and by email to [email protected].