Condemned nursing home left to operate for years

Despite a report submitted by the Greek Ombudsman listing a series of serious failings in the operation of a condemned nursing home in the Piraeus suburb of Keratsini and orders for its closure dating back three years, the facility continued to operate and take in new patients.

The facility was first ordered to close in September 2020 when it was condemned by health inspectors responding to complaints about conditions. It had since been inspected eight times by the Regional Authority of Attica and found to be in violation of basic health standards, yet continued to operate unhindered.

Accompanying health inspectors from the Attica Regional Authority on a spot-check of the facility in November last year following fresh complaints about the facility, meanwhile, the Greek Ombudsman found, among other serious violations, that the nursing home’s 56 patients were seriously undernourished and living in squalor.

Inspectors found the patients to be suspiciously docile and lacking any form of entertainment or diversion. Their clothing was filthy and was not even, apparently, their own, while the bedding was also dirty and inadequate to fight off the chill.

They also found evidence that the facility had been systematically cheating its patients out of food, purchasing fewer portions than needed and rationing them out. Several patients reportedly told the inspectors that they had not been given their midday meal on the day of the spot-check.

An absence of proper records was also reported, with inspectors discovering that several patients who had been registered during a previous visit in 2021 had disappeared without any trace to indicate whether they had been transferred to another facility or had died.