Storm warning for the retirement home sector. This Wednesday, January 26, in a book-investigation entitled The Gravediggers (Fayard), written by journalist Victor Castanet, the Orpéa group is accused of leaving its residents in often unworthy conditions, favoring its profitability over their well-being. Despite the rates “among the highest in France” in an establishment called Les Bords de Seine – an entry-level room of around twenty square meters costs nearly 6,500 euros per month in one of the establishments of the group -, elderly people can be left in their feces and urine. Hygiene products and food are “rationed”, seniors sometimes left without care for several days.
The leaders of Orpéa, which manage 1156 establishments in 24 countries in Europe and Latin America, refused to answer questions from Victor Castanet. Today, they “formally contest all of these accusations” which they describe as “false, outrageous and prejudicial” and would translate into a “manifest desire to harm.” Since the publication of the good sheets, the group’s share price has fallen by 30% in two days. The question is crucial:after a report of the Defender of Rights published in April 2021, France is one of the European countries with the highest proportion of elderly people in nursing homes (8.8% of people aged 75 and over).
Michèle Delaunay, Minister Delegate for the Elderly and Autonomy between 2012 and 2014, who notably brought the law relating to the adaptation of society to aging, promulgated in 2015, reacts to this survey.
L’Express: Were you surprised by the scenes of abandonment described in the survey? The Gravediggers ?
Michele Delaunay: This investigation is particularly frightening on two counts. Already, because I know the person who worked on this book, and I can testify to his seriousness. It is not a gunshot: it is a serious document, searched, investigated. Then, I must say that, in general, I am quite reserved about private nursing homes. Their prices are very important for the residents, but these high tariffs generally have no impact on the salaries of their staff. I cannot testify to the particular establishment of the Bords de Seine mentioned in the good sheets of the World, but I’m not really surprised: it already had the reputation of being very expensive, without the services deployed there being commensurate with its prices.
In your opinion, what would be the best solution to remedy this type of abuse?
There should be an inspection of nursing homes by an independent authority. I also have great remorse about this dating back to my time as minister. When I was in office, Jean-Marie Delarue, then Defender of Rights, came to see me at the ministry. He had asked my opinion on the possibility of including retirement homes, nursing homes, in places of deprivation of liberty, in order to allow him to inspect them. At the time, I told him that I was very afraid of the impact of such a measure on the staff. I thought then that the latter, who are committed to the autonomy of people and for their well-being, would live as an ordeal to be included in this category. But at that time, an independent inspection by the Defender of Rights should have been considered.
Michèle Delaunay is a former minister responsible for the elderly.
afp.com/Thomas Samson
Today, we have a Defender of Rights who covers several branches, including the subject of the elderly. But it would be necessary for someone to devote themselves specifically to this subject. I will say it again to Olivier Véran, even if this question depends more on the Minister of Justice. The Ehpad model should be reviewed, but above all they must be independently inspected.
The role of nursing homes has been widely criticized during the pandemic. The Defender of Rights, precisely, noted in a report that the rights of residents of these establishments have been “seriously hampered” in recent months. Is the problem endemic?
This problem was indeed general during these last months. It is very hard to reconcile human rights, such as the freedom to come and go, when we know that the resident population is very at risk of contamination. However, I notice that many retirement homes have found solutions, by organizing themselves on their own scale for meals, family visits in separate rooms… The situation ended up being manageable.
Beyond the pandemic, many people are calling for small retirement homes, and see this possibility as the solution. But in this case, how to ensure healthcare coverage? How to attract caregivers and ensure that doctors are interested in them despite the small size of these establishments?
On the occasion of the pandemic and this survey, the issue of retirement homes came back into the debate. Are we talking about it enough?
The issue of dependency is absolutely not dealt with in the debate. To demonstrate this, it suffices to see how little space this subject holds in the presidential campaign. It’s scary ! I’m not just thinking of nursing homes, I’m also thinking of older people. People who have a life continuation problem represent 30% of the voting age population, and we don’t seem to be interested in it. Even at the ministerial level, today, very little is said about it. When I was minister delegate, it seems to me however that my media presence was stronger, that the question existed more. It is perhaps only my good conscience which speaks, but I am the only one who has managed to pass a law on the subject in recent years!