There's a problem with short-term care. Rigid regulations are blocking nursing homes.

Only 34 nursing homes offer temporary placements – 167 people used them in 2024. The number could be higher if the facilities could continuously utilize available beds not occupied by permanent residents, reports Dziennik Gazeta Prawna on Wednesday.

The newspaper reminds us that social welfare homes (SWHs) can provide care not only in the form of permanent residence for elderly or disabled individuals in need, but can also provide short-term support services. A change in regulations allowing this came into effect on November 1, 2023.

According to the newspaper, few facilities have decided to open places for temporary stay, and the main obstacles are the formal requirements that must be met for them to operate.

Statistics from the Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Policy for 2024, cited by DGP, show that short-term stays were available in 34 nursing homes. In total, all facilities offered 151 short-stay places, including 145 for 24-hour stays and six for day stays. A total of 167 people used these places last year.

As the newspaper points out, considering that there are over 800 nursing homes across the country, only a small percentage of them offer temporary care places.

"We wanted to utilize the available spaces physically available at any given time. However, if the home decides to convert some of the spaces designated for an indefinite period into short-stay spaces, they are blocked for potential permanent residents. Therefore, I'm not surprised that the directors don't want to take the risk and decide against such a move," emphasizes Sylwia Kamińska-Tereszkiewicz, director of the Skęczniew Nursing Home and president of the Polish Association of Local Government Nursing Home Directors, as quoted by DGP.

He added that representatives of the facilities expressed their concerns that the rigid regulations could result in low interest in providing the new service while the regulations were still being processed, but their voices were not taken into account by the Ministry of Family Affairs. (PAP)

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