In conjunction with the Easter holidays, the NAS Carabinieri carried out an intense control campaign at a national level aimed at ascertaining compliance with the levels of assistance and care in social-health and accommodation facilities for the elderly. The monitoring was prepared, in agreement with the Ministry of Health, during the holiday period during which there may be a reduction in operators due to the use of holidays and work breaks. This element can lead to a reduction in the level of service provision and situations of abandonment, the consequences of which for elderly guests can be accentuated in relation to the health emergency connected with COVID-19.
From 2 to 6 April, the NAS Carabinieri inspected 337 facilities, including assisted living facilities (RSAs), retirement homes, residential communities and family homes, identifying 56 with irregularities, equal to 17% of the objectives subject to verification.
During the surveillance, 16 criminal and 50 administrative sanctions were contested, mainly connected with hygiene and structural deficiencies, the presence of a greater number of elderly people than the maximum authorized capacity, often placed in excessively restricted environments, as well as failure to comply with anti-COVID measures such as the failure to periodically sanitize and train staff on preventing the spread of contagion. Situations of less assistance to the people hosted have also been ascertained, attributable to an insufficient number of operators per duty shift, who also lack professional qualifications for the tasks required.
Due to serious violations ascertained, the immediate closure of 4 accommodation facilities was ordered, which were found to be activated and operated illegally or seriously deficient in health matters and without guarantees for the safety of guests, resulting in the immediate transfer of the elderly people present at the families of origin or other suitable structures present in the area.
Most significant interventions:
Nas Campobasso
4 lawyers responsible for as many accommodation facilities for the elderly, located in the province of Campobasso and Isernia, have been reported to the Health and Administrative Authority for having hosted elderly people in greater numbers than authorized, also in conditions of organizational-welfare deficiencies (insufficient number of health workers , medicines not stored correctly). On one occasion the results required the issuance of a closure order for a retirement home and the transfer of 14 elderly residents.
Nas Udine
The owner of a residence for the elderly located in the Municipality of Udine has been reported to the Health Authority for the shortcomings found in the application of the protocols on the containment of the spread of covid-19. In particular, the area for the management of "positivities" had not been defined, nor the management path for dirty/clean material.
Nas Salerno
The legal manager of a Therapeutic-Habilitation Health Residence, located in the municipality of Salerno, has been reported to the Judicial and Health Authority due to the ascertained structural deficiencies, such as the absence of anti-stumbling shower trays, absence of an emergency call system, walls characterized by detachment of the plaster, as well as failure to prepare the room dedicated to the isolation of any suspected Covid-19 cases. Furthermore, 11 packs of expired medicines were found and seized inside the medicine shop.
Nas Catania
The closure of a retirement home activated in the absence of the minimum organizational and authorization requirements and the mandatory registration in the municipal register has been ordered.
Nas Potenza
The legal manager of a company managing a retirement home was reported to the Administrative Authority because he was held responsible for having activated the structure in the absence of the required authorizations and without the minimum structural and welfare requirements for its operation. The local administrative authority has ordered the immediate closure of the illegal activity and the transfer of the guests to another suitable structure.
Nas Pescara
The administrator of a company managing a residential center for the elderly based in the province of Pescara was reported to the Health and Administrative Authority for having maintained the accommodation business in the presence of structural and organizational deficiencies. In particular, the rooms intended for the preparation and serving of food were affected by mold and humidity on the walls, furnishings that were not easily washable, and the lack of a special changing room dedicated to the kitchen staff. The failure to implement containment measures for the spread of covid-19 was also noted, such as the lack of protocols for cleaning and disinfecting environments, the identification of routes to ensure interpersonal distancing and signs for the route dirty clean.
Nas Ragusa
The Municipality of Ragusa has ordered the closure of a retirement home for the elderly due to failure to comply with the minimum functional organizational requirements and for the failure to implement the protocols to contain the spread of covid-19.
Nas Naples
The owner of a hotel, located in the municipality of Mugnano, was reported as being held responsible for not having updated the risk assessment document due to the biological risk deriving from the pandemic spread of covid-19.
The same unit also in the province of Naples, reported to the Health and Administrative Authority 3 lawyers responsible for as many accommodation facilities for the elderly, for having started and maintained the activities in the absence of the minimum organizational and structural requirements necessary for operation.
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