The president of the Association of Residences for the Elderly of Castilla-La Mancha (Artecam), Francisco José Núñez Alía, has warned that signing this Thursday, as planned, the ‘Agreement on common criteria for accreditation and quality of centers and services of the System for Autonomy and Care for Dependency (SAAD)’, in the terms in which it is written, “puts thousands of jobs in check” and “supposes the closure of hundreds of places and services” dedicated care for the elderly throughout the region, especially in rural areas.
The Association of Residences for the Third Age of Castilla-La Mancha is a non-profit business organization, which was founded in 1992, with the aim of integrating all the private care centers for the elderly in the community.
Currently, it represents 83 centers with a total of 7,493 residential places, which generate employment for a total of 3,296 workers.
In a press release, this association has shared the rejection already expressed by the Government of Castilla-La Mancha, as its president transferred to the Minister of Social Welfare, Bárbara García Torijano, during the meetings held, and is aligned with the president of the Government of Castilla-La Mancha, Emiliano García-Page, who attacked on Monday the model of the Ministry of Social Rights and the 2030 Agenda for being “the policy of the invitation, but you pay”, as it was not accompanied by financing.
«Applying the criteria established by the new model requires an injection of financing. Otherwise, it will be totally unfeasible to put it into practice in Castilla-La Mancha”, defended Núñez Alía, who has warned that “if the system was already touched, the new regulations will only sink it”.
Therefore, it has demanded that the Government that before approving any change in the accreditation criteria of the centers «approve, or at least commit, what financing accompanies it».
For Artecam, the new center model will mean a closure of centers and services, especially in rural areas, and an “irreparable” loss of employment in the community. At this point, Núñez Alía recalled that the personal care sector is the one that generates the most jobs in relation to the investment made and constitutes a fundamental engine of wealth generation, as evidenced by the fact that the sector reports 40.4 jobs for every million euros invested.
The Government has proposed limiting places in nursing homes, taking into account the population density of the area in which they are located, establishing a range that goes from 60 to 120 places, instead of limiting them to a maximum of 90 seats as proposed in February.
This is reflected in the new draft of the Agreement on Common Criteria for accreditation and quality of the centers and services of the System for Autonomy and Dependency Care (SAAD), which the Executive is negotiating with the autonomies, which are the competent ones in the matter.
The new Executive document, promoted by the Ministry of Social Rights and the 2030 Agenda, includes, among other aspects, that the centers that are built after the approval of this agreement «may not exceed 60 residential places when they are located in rural areas or sparsely populated’; while the “intermediate density localities or areas” would have a limit of 90 places; “cities or densely populated areas” in 120.
