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Drunken carer neglects senior citizen – police intervene!
A nursing case in Schwabing-Freimann: an alcoholic nurse neglects a senior citizen and is arrested. Investigations are ongoing.
Drunken carer neglects senior citizen – police intervene!
A worrying incident recently shook Munich's Maxvorstadt. On Friday evening, a 53-year-old man was arrested because he was employed as a carer for a bedridden elderly woman but severely neglected her. The drunken man had barricaded himself in the elderly woman's apartment and refused access to the police, who responded to a call for help from one of the woman's acquaintances.
The acquaintance had tried to reach the senior citizen by phone, but was unable to get in touch and then immediately set off for her apartment. Despite his key, he was denied entry. The police also couldn't open the door, which required firefighters to get inside via a tilted window. A firefighter was slightly injured but did not require medical attention. Ultimately, the emergency services managed to force open the apartment door and the elderly woman was taken to hospital.
The legal consequences
The nurse is now the focus of public prosecutor's investigations for several crimes. These include, among other things, dangerous bodily harm and failure to provide assistance. Another accusation is resistance to law enforcement officers and particularly serious theft - apparently the man had stolen money from the elderly woman. He is considered a homeless person who apparently lived temporarily in the elderly woman's apartment, which makes the circumstances seem all the more tragic.
Neglect in care
This incident is not an isolated case. Neglect and abuse of older people in care is a serious problem that affects both outpatient and inpatient settings. Organizations such as the Center for Quality in Care (ZQP) report that there are urgently needed measures to prevent violence against older people and people in need of care. Studies such as the one published by the Federal Ministry of Health make it clear that it is time to develop and implement initiatives to prevent such incidents in the future.
Preventive approaches, such as those being tested in the model communities of the violence prevention project in long-term care, aim to transfer the experiences learned from European projects to the German care sector and to implement effective protective measures. The aim is to better understand and take into account the specific needs of older people.
Social responsibility for protecting older people is becoming increasingly urgent. It is not only up to relatives, but also to social institutions to ensure that those in need of care receive the attention and security they need. In light of such incidents, it is crucial that we all take a more active role in addressing the needs of our elderly to ensure they receive dignified and safe care.
For more information on the topic of neglect in care, we recommend the following articles: South German newspaper, ZQP and Federal Ministry of Health.