"Hospices" in Varna, where dozens of helpless elderly people were found, did not provide them with medical care, but they had a contract with a funeral agency. This was told to BNT by Ivanka Dineva, director of the "Medical Supervision" Agency.
"The conditions are extremely bad. I would not say that there is abuse, but in the facility where I was, all the residents had their heads shaved, which I personally also consider a form of violence. It is terrible. There were sick people, with schizophrenia, with dementia, and there were also people who did not have a visible medical condition, that is, simply because they are elderly, they were accommodated there. In such conditions, mixing patients, neglect, and deliberate concealment of their condition are unacceptable. When we went, they were probably prepared in advance, but they were wearing brand new diapers. When we called the emergency doctors, it was found that the new diapers were placed on top of quite old diapers," recalled Ivanka Dineva.
According to her, the inspections in Varna are part of a pre-planned schedule under the leadership and coordination of the ministers of justice, health and labor. The topic began with attempts to uncover schemes of the "property mafia".
"People were accommodated three or four in a room, some of the windows had no handles from the inside, others had bars. We have identified the medicinal products that were found. Some of them are prescribed with a green prescription, that is, they contain narcotic substances. Others of them have psychotic effects, but 80% of the drugs we found were prescribed by a doctor," the expert pointed out.
Some of the patients were brought in by ambulance, others were brought in not by relatives, but by the owners of the three buildings, Dineva explained.
"It is interesting that it is claimed that they were brought in by relatives and that there was communication with the relatives. Last night we prayed that they would give us contact with relatives of the patients we placed in "St. Marina" hospital. Last night until 3:30 a.m. we prayed that they would give us contact with the daughter of a 96-year-old woman who simply wanted to hear from her. No one gave us such contact," Dineva specified.
Unlike the so-called "homes", in Yagoda and Govedartsi, which have gone through registrations for the provision of social services, those in Varna do not have such.
"A building rented to an individual. We found documents for the re-letting of the same building to two other previous legal entities. These are some pathetic attempts to circumvent existing legislation".
In one of the sites, the inspectors received documentation from an "employee", whose employment contract was never discovered.
"During our many-hour visit, she was called the "secretary", "manager", "nurse", but in all likelihood she was none of the three. This is happening under the noses of all of us. There were neighbors in the building we were in last night. Funeral homes were called there. "I asked who the doctor was who was taking care of these people and who was certifying the death of a deceased patient. They said they were calling a funeral home with a doctor, but they didn't know who the doctor was. I don't know how irresponsible you have to be to accept taking care of 130 people and not have secured a contract with a medical facility or a doctor who would visit them periodically and to have relationships only with a funeral home," the director said.
The "Medical Supervision" Agency has not exercised an umbrella over the owners and these buildings are not registered as hospices, said Ivanka Dineva. After last night's inspections, two pre-trial proceedings have been initiated.