Juholt demands stricter controls of elderly care
Published: 12 Nov 11 10:51 CET | Print version
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/37316/20111112/
Following recent revelations about conditions at some Swedish nursing homes, both Social Democrat head Håkan Juholt and the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise (Svenskt Näringsliv) have penned opinion pieces demanding more efficient controls and regulation of tax-financed geriatric care.
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Venture capital firms, existing first and foremost to maximize profits, have no place in tax-financed elderly care, he opines.
A political agreement over party lines is therefore needed to ensure quality care and to guarantee that appointed funds for care actually reach the elderly.
But recent revelations regarding scandal-stricken care company Carema, hit by more than 150 reports to the National Board of Health and Welfare (Socialstyrelsen), have caused more than Juholt to feel the need for better controls of the care system.
"The most important thing right now is to strengthen quality controls," wrote Anders Morin, in charge of welfare-political issues at the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise, in daily newspaper Svenska Dagbladet.
Players hoping to enter the private care field must be carefully investigated, both with regard to their competence and their economic strength, he argued.
When the business is up and running, it must then undergo evaluation and be under effective supervision.
"It must be made simpler to shut down businesses not able to meet quality standards at short notice," he wrote.
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Did the state hire the company with the best history, care, expertise, etc., or did the state seek to employee the company that was least expensive or a company based on good-old-boy connections?
I don't know, and nothing excuses the abuses of Carema, but these abuses seem to have been known for some time. Why did no one within the state, which hired the company, immediately seek legal action to address these abuses or seek social welfare representatives to immediately correct the inhumane conditions? Carema should have been fired long ago.
If a parent hires a babysitter and the sitter abuses the children, it's expected the parent would take immediate action, not look the other way and continue to subject the children to abuse.
And though it may not apply to this case, I can't help but think of the phrase, you get what you pay for. If you buy cheap clothing, you can expect poor quality fabric, workmanship, and practices that may not be socially/environmentally friendly.
If you buy expensive clothing, you expect quality fabric, workmanship, and perhaps socially/environmentally friendly production as well.
With a history of reduced funding for health care, did the state hire the best care? Apparently not.
Julholt and others talk about investigating the finances behind the firms hired by Sweden, but the real problem comes later... these firms must be allowed to MAKE money. As we drive to minimize expenses for the "aging problem" both private and public institutions we be squeezed into attempting to do it for less.
If you contract with me to provide services and I am demonstrating a business model that yields a 8% profit based upon a certain level of service... don't expect me give the same level of service when you cut my funding or otherwise increase my costs (taxes, increased service requirements, extra compliance, etc.).
Apparently one's business model allows one to breach a contract whenever it is believed profits are no longer making sufficientt. In the case of a contract to provide care to the elderly, this would apparently include decreasing their medications and food, refusing to change their diapers in a timely manner and providing only sufficient staff to push the bodies out the door. The argument assumes that (1) the "business model" is accurate and (2) the bid has not been "low-balled" just to get the business. In the case of Carema, both points seem to be in question. Attempts at privatizing elder care have historically been failures. These are human beings, not machines being turned off a production line. This debacle simply emphasizes the importance of recognizing the limitations of privatization. Perhaps the powers that be would be more attentive if older people and their families voted with this in mind.