Varuh ДЌlovekovih pravic

At the celebration upon the 70th anniversary of Dom Lukavci the Ombudsman once again warns about the violation of rights in social care institutions

Varuh govori na svečanosti ob 70-letnici Doma Lukavci

Speaking at the Kulturni dom in Ljutomer at the celebration of the 70th anniversary of operation of Dom Lukavci, Human Rights Ombudsman Peter Svetina emphasised that it is impossible to overlook everything that has been done in these 70 years for people who have resided in this institution, the commitment of the management, and dedication of the staff who provide decent living in accordance to their possibilities. “However, it is also impossible to overlook the excessively slow solving of the issue of the placement of people by order of the courts and the development of deinstitutionalisation in Slovenia,” he was critical of the policymakers.

He reminded the participants that when he started his term more than four years ago he met in his new role people who some special social care institutions had to place in hallways and other places that are certainly not intended for residence due to space constraints. “I acted immediately and after the joint visitation of Dutovlje with the then Minister Ksenija Klampfer she found the means for additional capacities in social care institutions and ways to ease their problems and slightly move this standstill. This is how the problems of Dom na Krasu in Dutovlje, Dom Lukavci, and Dom na Ptuju started to get solved. Nevertheless, this was only the first step,” said the Ombudsman as he familiarised the participants with fresh findings of the National Preventive Mechanism (NPM), which operates within the institution of the Ombudsman.

The NPM notes that the secure wards are still overcrowded. As a result of the decisions of the courts that residents must be admitted after the first vacancy is released, the hardship has to a certain extent been transferred to where individuals are waiting for admission, i.e. psychiatric hospitals, the home environment or other (social welfare) institutions. Some, however, wait for admission in an environment that, given their health condition, cannot take care of them effectively and safely. He also warned that, despite the court's decision, some people wait so long for admission that their (one-year) retention periods may also expire. The Ombudsman generally welcomes the efforts of the competent ministry to ensure a greater number of places in secure wards and to relieve the existing secure wards of special social welfare institutions. Nevertheless, he once again unequivocally defined the overcrowding of institutions as a violation of the rights of individuals placed on secure wards. “According to the criteria of the National Preventive Mechanism, the conditions in such wards, which have been going on for ten years or more, are classified as bad treatment of residents,” said Svetina. The Ombudsman supports policymakers' plans for new dislocated units, which will take into account planned deinstitutionalisation, for people with mental health disorders as well as the expansion of community services, but the sleeves must be rolled up immediately. “It is difficult for all of us who are outside these walls to imagine what the crowded space means for people with various mental health disorders. What it means to sleep in a hallway or even in a bathroom. What it means for the staff to mitigate the tensions that arise when there are too many people with different problems in one place. What it means to plan work in such conditions and ensure safety and dignity at the same time,” Ombudsman Svetina described the situation, adding that he does not want to repeat the same content again at the next ceremony or when preparing the reports of the Ombudsman or the National Preventive Mechanism. “And even more importantly, I do not even want to hear about the idea that attempts are being made to place adolescents in special social care institutions, despite the fact that these institutions are not appropriate for this age group,” the Ombudsman stands firm. “I will once again repeat the old adage about how the development of a country is revealed in how it takes care of the weakest in its society. Unfortunately, according to this and a few other indicators, Slovenia cannot be counted among the developed countries, as care for the most vulnerable is transferred to humanitarian organisations and funding depends on collecting bottle caps, which forces me to be particularly Rembrandtian picturesque today. All with the hope that it works. As they say, hope is the last to die,” concluded Ombudsman Svetina, extending good wishes to everyone connected to Dom Lukavci, and expressing his belief that they will continue their good collaboration to ensure the respect of human rights along with the right to decent living conditions and ensuring appropriate social care services.

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