Neglect of the elderly, poor medical care to the point of bedridden practice, disparaging behavior, poor hygiene and diet are some of the reports associated with elderly people and which were accepted by Ombudsman, with the aim of his intervention in hospitals as well as private Elderly Care Units.

“We were heartbroken by what we sawwhen we accompanied the relevant regional authorities to an inspection of an Elderly Care Unit” described the situation the expert scientist to the Ombudsman Ioanna Arsenopoulos, speaking at an event organized by the independent administrative authority in Thessaloniki, on the theme: “The Ombudsman for the vulnerable social groups – the website www.synigoros-solidarity.gr”.

As he characteristically said, the Ombudsman, following reports on Elderly Care Units (MPH) – mainly private ones, found conditions below the acceptable standard of livingwith edeficiencies in nutrition, poor cleanliness of premises, non-existent movement and physiotherapy of the elderly, absence of human contact and communication and low quality of workn, while in some cases the workers were minimal.

As an example of derogatory behavior, Ms. Arsenopoulou mentioned a case in which all the clothes of elderly people were taken away and some others were given back, but women’s clothes were given to a man.

“In many, in fact cases of IPC deemed inappropriatealthough there is a relevant order, it is not stamped because there are no other units to accept the elderly and so it remains only on paper and is not implemented,” he noted.

For primary health care, the Ombudsman received reports of difficulty scheduling appointments with a specialist doctor in several Health Centers of Attica, Patras and Macedonia due to the impossibility of telephone scheduling due to a lack of specialized doctors.

“At the same time we found out inappropriate medical care in an elderly personwho was hospitalized after stroke injury, received inadequate medical attention and was sent back without the necessary CT scan. It ended a few hours after a cerebral hemorrhage… In another case, old woman who was taken to hospital after a suicide attempt, she was left tied up for hours on the grounds of a lack of staff, with the result that, because she was diabetic, she suffered hypoglycemia due to the absence of food.”

More generally, speaking about the care of the elderly in Greece, Mrs. Arsenopoulou emphasized the lack of respect for their personality, the neglect and the absence of specialized staff.

“The Ombudsman for the Protection of the Elderly Proceeds to Correct Organizational and Legislative Failures so that the real needs are taken into account and contributes to the support of individual rights of the elderly” concluded Mrs. Arsenopoulou.

Greetings at the event were given by Andreas Pottakis, Ombudsman, Lajla Brandt Jakhelln, S.A. Ambassador of Norway to Greece and Nicole Romain, Head of Communications and Events at the European Union’s Agency for Fundamental Rights – FRA.

The meeting was one of the actions of the act “Actions of the Ombudsman to strengthen good governance, accountability and combating maladministration in the public sector”.

The operation is co-financed under the Good Governance, Institutions, Transparency Program of the EEA Grants (EEA Financial Mechanism) which represent the contribution of Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway to a green, competitive and inclusive Europe.