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Old man strips naked for Norway care campaign

"So many people have seen me naked, I may as well undress for the whole country," says an 84-year-old man as he strips off for a care campaign video by the Socialist Left Party.

Old man strips naked for Norway care campaign
Leif Dubard shortly before he bares all in the Socialist Left Party's campaign video. Photo: Screen Grab/Vimeo

The video is part of a campaign against the excess numbers of temporary staff working in Norwegian care homes due to their low pay and poor working conditions.

Leif Dubard, an actor and former presenter on NRK, slowly takes his clothes off in the video, as he complains about his constantly changing care.

“Today, Anne should have been the one to wash me and get me ready. But that is not the case. Today someone I don't know is taking care of me,” he says in a gravelly voice. 



“So many people have seen me naked, that I may as well undress for the whole country.”



Audun Lysbakken, the leader of the Socialist Left Party told VG newspaper that the film, inspired by a similar video from the Netherlands, was aimed at raising awareness.



“For us, this and social media is an opportunity for dialogue with people. I think that is very important,” he said.  

“Some 68% in the care sector are part-time employees. That is not acceptable. The elderly are not getting the welfare they need, simply because there are too many people visiting them. 

“It is important for them to form a relationship with their carers, but that is impossible when there are so many temporary workers and part-time employees.” 



 

Ta kampen for en verdig eldreomsorg from Sosialistisk Venstreparti on Vimeo.

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Spain’s prosecutors file criminal complaint over virus care home death

Spanish prosecutors said Tuesday they have filed a criminal complaint against a Madrid care home doctor and its director over the Covid-related death of a resident, in the first such case in the capital region since the start of the pandemic

Spain's prosecutors file criminal complaint over virus care home death
Photo: AFP

Madrid's public prosecutor's office said the two women are suspected of manslaughter and denial of medical attention in relation to the death in March of a woman in her 80s who had just moved into the home.   

Madrid was one of the hardest-hit cities in Europe by the first wave of the pandemic, and the complaint is expected to be one of several alleging inadequate care at retirement homes during the period.

In a statement, the prosecutor's office said the doctor and the director of the home, who were not named, did not follow the protocol set up by the Madrid regional government for caring for residents during the pandemic.

The doctor “disregarded” the protocol and did not call a hospital about the woman, despite her worsening condition, until eight days after she began having breathing trouble.

“Despite her rapid transfer to hospital, she died the following day from cardiac arrest,” the statement said.

The care home's director “was aware of the patient's clinical situation (but) did nothing” to ensure she received health care during periods when the doctor was absent, notably on the weekend before her death, it added.   

Amnesty International warned earlier this month that conditions at elderly care homes in the Madrid region and in Catalonia remained “alarming” despite improvements.

In a sharply worded report, it said the “vast majority” of residents had not been properly cared for during the pandemic.

The measures put in place by both regions were “inefficient and inadequate” and violated the residents' rights, it said.   

Spain has been one of Europe's worst-hit countries, with the virus infecting more than 1.7 million people and causing over 48,000 deaths.

Close to half of that number are believed to be elderly people who died in homes, Amnesty said.

At the height of the first wave in March, Spanish soldiers helping to fight the pandemic found elderly patients in retirement homes abandoned and, in some cases, dead in their beds.

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