Nursing home care in the balance

THE HOUSING and care of 3,600 pensioners is in the balance as nursing homes threaten to terminate contracts with the Welfare Department on January 3 unless their demands are met beforehand.

The President of the association of nursing homes, Michalis Petrakis, said yesterday: “After two years of negotiation with the government to find a solution to our problems, we remain to this day victims of indifference and unfulfilled promises.”
The reasons behind the move to terminate contracts with the state for the care and housing of the elderly stems from the government’s reluctance to respond to rising prices in the nursing home sector or even pay the increase in the cost of living allowance for 2004.

Increases in the cost of wages, fuel, food and all basic items needed to run the homes have made survival a near impossibility for the nursing homes, argue the owners.
The homes are calling on the government to fix the cost of food payments at the same figures used for food costs in state nursing homes.

The association also demands to begin negotiations with the relevant authorities for state assistance in implementing the EU harmonisation laws, which will come into effect in June 2006.

A final problem faced by nursing home owners is the requirement to replace carers who hail from third countries with EU workers, something which could double staff costs, they claim.

On January 3, the owners will go ahead with termination of all contracts with the Welfare Department. The government then has seven days to remove pensioners, after which the owners may take legal action. Nobody will be evicted if legal proceedings begin, however.

“The aim is not to kick these people out, but to have our demands satisfied,” said Petrakis.

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