The Provincial Deputy of Bizkaia for Social Action, Sergio Murillo, has assured this Thursday that his department “does not tremble” to take “drastic measures” such as closing nursing homes if it is found that they have committed infractions and has remarked that “the priority is the residents.”

“If it has to be closed, it closes”, has sentenced during his appearance before the Commission of Social Action of the General Meetings when asked about the inspections of his department to this type of centers, and specifically about the precautionary closure of the private concerted residence Aita y Ama (Ignacio Loyola Residence) in Barakaldo, a measure adopted last Tuesday.

As he explained, at the request of the EH Bildu group, said closure was decided after the inspectors found “violations” such as the subjection of users without medical prescription and without notifying the relatives, the hiring of personnel without the necessary qualifications and the lack of programming of activities in the center, among others.

After remarking that the inspections constitute a “guarantee” for the elderly, Murillo has detailed that on July 30, a complaint was received in relation to said center for non-compliance with certain social services and the Provincial Council opened a file at the same time that it claimed information to the managers of the geriatric center.

Given the “generic” responses obtained from them, on September 12 a inspection, that the September 14, date on which the inspectors found “failures” and requested documentation from the center. The October 8th Another inspection was registered and “violations” were observed that were reported to the relatives of the users of the center.

Since October 8, and “due to the lack of response” from the residence to the requests of the regional body, daily inspections were carried out until the October 12 ° it was decided the suspension prudential of your license. Today, another inspection has been carried out to certify that the center is closed, as reported by Murillo.

The head of Social Action has defended the performance of the inspection service of his department and has highlighted that during the first nine months of the year they have carried out a total of 152 official inspections of nursing homes, of which 69 were carried out by a order, five per complaint and 78 per office.

This number is similar to the inspections registered throughout the year 2018 or 2019, so it is expected that by the end of this year it will exceed the figures reached in the aforementioned pre-pandemic years by up to 20%. Murillo has assured that the trend is to follow this increase in the number of inspections in the coming years.

On the part of the opposition, Izaskun Duque (EH Bildu) has insisted that the workers transfer to this coalition that the inspections are carried out “with advance notice”, which has been rejected by Murillo; while Héctor Fernández Medrano (Elkarrekin Bizkaia) has opined that “not enough is being done”, and Eduardo Andrade (PP) has expressed his support for the closure of Aita and Ama.

The representatives of the government team, made up of PNV and PSE / EE, have also shown their support for the deputy and have remarked that it has been shown that the inspections “work.”