The Prinsenhof rest and care home in Bruges is now in the crosshairs of the Regional Care and Health Agency. In fact, as revealed by our colleagues from Laatste Nieuws, the medical establishment has very large shortcomings, even endangering the lives of residents.
An employee who recently resigned decided to testify anonymously to raise a red flag. He thus revealed several screenshots of a WhatsApp conversation bringing together several active employees of the rest and care home. In particular, it is discovered that a fellow nurse addicted to drugs regularly steals pills from residents and then wanders the halls. “Management knows regarding it, but doesn’t want to fire her.” We also learn that the staff does not know the code of a medicine cabinet supposed to be used in an emergency. “A dog is better treated in a shelter,” explains the ex-employee.
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Yet this nursing home wants to be luxurious and asks each of its residents a monthly rent of 3,000 euros. The management of the establishment changed at the beginning of the year, and while several members of staff find nothing wrong with it, others, on the other hand, affirm that the new director was hired as manager with the sole aim of doing profit to compensate for the losses caused by the crisis. “His style is dictatorial and tyrannical. He only cares regarding what Orpea wants, which is mainly to make money. Care is absolutely not a priority for management. And apparently, neither can quality nursing staff,” the anonymous source continues.
Lack of quality staff
According to him, the residents sometimes wait for several hours for someone to come and help them. He cites in particular the example of a lady who allegedly fell and activated the alarm and who was finally found 23 hours later in hypothermia before dying three days later in hospital. He also claims that one of his colleagues came to work drunk. “One of our residents needed oxygen. The drunk colleague was asked to get the oxygen, but she never showed up. The resident eventually died.” A last story that has been confirmed by several employees, although it is difficult to prove that the patient died due to non-treatment.
In fact, Prinsenhof would suffer from a crying lack of staff. Some caregivers would find themselves alone to manage a corridor of 30 residents. However, in the eyes of the Care Inspectorate, no irregularity was observed in terms of staff in the establishment. To explain this, the former employee claims that the schedules were simply falsified. “If there are indications that these lists are incorrect, we may request additional data”, explained to our colleagues from HLN the Care Inspectorate.
The Regional Care and Health Agency, for its part, explained to our colleagues that the Prinsenhof was on the verge of being placed under enhanced surveillance following carrying out a disappointing first check at the end of 2022. The agency is waiting now an action plan from management. Marijke Verboven, spokeswoman for Orpea, said the parent company was aware of some problems within the team and that the necessary was being done to restore the situation, saying that new nurses had been hired. “Staff who become aware of violations are encouraged to report to the police. We will mentor and support the entire team from headquarters.”
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