Ile-de-France has 707 nursing homes. One hundred and one were checked in five months after the release and revelations of the investigative book The Gravediggers. Of these, 31 establishments were the subject of one or more injunctions aimed at improving their operation. These injunctions concern “human resources management”, “risk management” and “the organization of care” for residents, the Ile-de-France regional health agency said on Wednesday.
One establishment, the La Roseraie nursing home of the Medicharme group, located in Livry-Gargan in Seine-Saint-Denis, was closed and placed under provisional administration following an inspection in February, which reported “a serious situation endangering the health, safety and physical and moral well-being of residents”. The injunctions were addressed “in roughly equal shares” to private for-profit, private associative and public establishments. Among the 101 nursing homes checked, the majority were lucrative private establishments (71%).
“We were on a punch campaign”, commented to journalists Amélie Verdier, director general of ARS Ile-de-France. “The objective was first to check that we could reassure the Ile-de-France residents about the quality of care in the region’s nursing homes”. “We went to check rather where we had alerts,” she said.
“Twice as many weekly complaints”
In total, 61 Ehpad were checked on the spot unexpectedly and 40 on documents.
“We have carried out these inspections, we will follow them over time, check that the establishments comply with the injunctions”, underlined Amélie Verdier. ARS Ile-de-France has embarked on this reinforced control program for nursing homes in the region following the publication of the book-investigation The Gravediggers and the government’s decision to launch a vast control plan for all nursing homes in France.
Since the publication of this book by journalist Victor Castanet, who denounced serious dysfunctions within the Orpea group, the ARS Ile-de-France receives “twice as many weekly complaints concerning the care of the elderly” compared to the previous years.