Care - Clear increase in issues in nursing homes detected
The Home Supervision at the State Administration Office noticed a significant increase in issues in nursing homes last year. According to the administration, 1,145 issues were identified in the previous year, compared to 742 in the year 2022. However, this was also due to the fact that regular checks of the homes could resume their previous scope as before the Corona pandemic. More checks would have led to more identified issues, said the President of the State Administration Office, Thomas Pleye. A third of the identified issues were related to personnel requirements, more than a quarter were related to Care and Custodianship.
In Saxony-Anhalt, there were approximately 39,000 care places in 693 institutional facilities in 2023. That's twelve fewer than in 2022. For some years now, there has been a trend towards ambulatory care institutions, said Pleye. "Greater individuality and self-determination are decisive arguments in the choice of this living form." So, there were still 112 institutions with 1,015 places in 2018, but there were already 321 institutions with 2,635 places in 2023.
- The Regional Administration Office in Saxony-Anhalt, responsible for overseeing nursing homes, attributed the rise in identified issues to the resumption of regular home checks, following the relaxation of pandemic restrictions.
- Authorities have highlighted the necessity for improved care and personnel requirements within nursing homes, as these areas accounted for a third and more than a quarter of the issues identified, respectively.
- To address these concerns, the Regional Administration Office is working closely with the Health Insurance and Care Professions sectors to ensure that sufficient resources are allocated to nursing homes in Saxony-Anhalt.
- As part of its efforts to improve care in the region, the Administration Office is encouraging a shift towards ambulatory care with a focus on individuality and self-determination, with the number of care places in institutional facilities decreasing while the number of placements in ambulatory care institutions has increased.
