Ministry of Social Development cites elderly home for violating standards

AMMAN — The Ministry of Social Development issued a warning to a private elderly care home due to the shortage of employees working in it, which “led to the failure to provide a quality service”.

According to a statement, the secretary general of the ministry Barq Dmour said that during his inspection visit to the elderly home, the staff was found to be “insufficient for providing care for the residents, despite the possession of the necessary permits to do so”.

Dmour said that although the home claimed not to have been given enough permits for its employees, an investigation into the matter proved otherwise.

He added that the home, which has 23 elderly residents, was found to “possess the necessary permits that would enable it to provide higher efficiency and quality services, but its deliberate shortage of staff led to its failure to provide the needed quality service”.

A warning penalty was extended to the elderly home, which cares for eight male and 15 female residents.

“The ministry pays great attention to elderly and orphan homes, and it continues to inspect all their shelters in both the private and government sectors to ensure the implementation of the ministry's precautionary plan to limit the spread of the coronavirus,” noted the ministry’s statement.

The Kingdom has 10 centres and homes for the elderly, which serve 393 men and women.

Dmour stressed that any care home that does not comply with the laws, regulations and conditions of public safety and health “will not be dealt with lightly,” adding that the ministry shut down a private elderly care home two weeks ago and has transferred its residents to another home.