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After refusing to make this document public, the government reviewed its position and finally disclosed the content of the administrative inquiry report it requested on the Orpea establishments. Serious dysfunctions are revealed within the private Ehpad group.
A 500 page report. This was produced by the investigation carried out by the General Inspectorate of Finance (IGF) and that of Social Affairs (Igas), to shed full light on the practices of Orpea establishments, private manager of Ehpad, including the practices were exposed in the shocking book The Gravediggersby independent journalist Victor Castanet.
A 500-page report finally made public
After requesting this investigation, the government first announced that it would keep its findings secret, due to “business secrecy” and potential legal action against the group.
But finally, Brigitte Bourguignon, Minister Delegate in charge of the Autonomy of the Elderly, announces its posting online via a tweet where she announces that the document is “accessible to all, in complete transparency”, on the website of the Ministry of Health and Solidarity following the opinion of Olivier Véran.
Indeed, for the Minister of Health, “There is no room for doubt in this case.”. The leaders of the Orpea group have for their part announced “to be in favor” of the publication of the report. Finally, some financial amounts were removed from the published version.
But what does this report say?
“Insincere” financial documents, “insufficient” food, budget surpluses generated on public allocations… Many reproaches are made to the group managers of establishments for the elderly.
According to the Igas and IGF inspectors, the “steering” of the Orpea group’s establishments, which are often overcrowded, gives priority to “financial performance” rather than quality. For example, for food, the “grammages” of the meals served to the elderly are “significantly and systematically insufficient”.
A constant search for profits
Between 2017 and 2020, the Orpea group generated a surplus of 20 million euros on the public grants paid to it. Endowments meant to be used to support the care and dependency of its residents. “The mandatory financial documents transmitted to the guardianship by the Ehpad are insincere and present practices of non-regulatory charging of charges on the care and dependency packages “ also notes the report, which shows that profit has been favored over the well-being of residents.
Recall that on March 26, the government announced that it was taking legal action on the basis of the conclusions of this report, and that it intended to require Orpea to reimburse public grants allegedly diverted from their purposes.
After the Orpéa scandal, the government announced the launch of an action plan for “aging well in establishments”, in particular to better supervise and better control nursing homes.