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Police find ‘neglect’ in Italian care home blitz

Italian police found cases of 'neglect, uncleanliness, expired medication and over-crowding' after a blitz on 100 nursing homes across the country.

Police find 'neglect' in Italian care home blitz
Police found cases of neglect, poor sanitary conditions and expired drugs in the care home raid. Photo: Gabriel Rocha/Flickr

The task-force established by Health Minister Beatrice Lorenzin checked 31 care homes in the north, 30 in Italy’s central region and 39 in the south, Il Sole 24 Ore reported.

Nineteen people were charged in the raid for neglect, while €400,000 worth of goods were seized, including 17 packets of expired drugs.

At a home in Catania, Sicily, police found 12 elderly people living in a space meant for nine and run by unqualified staff. There was also no air-conditioning, no mosquito nets and dirty cups lying around. The home has been seized and the residents will be transferred. 

Carla Cantone, the secretary general of Spi Cgil, the Italian pensioners union, said: "The fact that so many irregularities were found shows that there is a serious problem with how the elderly are treated in residential facilities. We’ve denounced them for some time and we are happy to now have institutions and authorities on our side in this real battle for civility.” 

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