The University Hospital Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria (HUNSC) took over the management of the Hogar Santa Rita II senior center in January as a result of a Covid outbreak that affected more than two hundred residents in the largest residence in the Canary Islands. Fundación Hogar Santa Rita II is a five-building structure with approximately 600 residents with public and concerted places managed in both cases privately by the religious institution. Sanidad managed to control an outbreak a month later. The Canary Islands is the community that carries out the fewest inspections in residences, only surpassed by Extremadura.
“In Santa Rita deficiencies of all kinds were found, which, indeed, the Prosecutor’s Office will have to evaluate. It worries that things of this nature survive in the XXI century “, The Minister of Health of the Government of the Canary Islands, Blas Trujillo, even said. So far it has not been understood what “deficiencies” were found as a result of the health intervention, but The SER has had access to the content of the report and the serious assessments made then by health professionals: from an outbreak of scabies to dehydration in large dependents.
From “little piece of heaven” to hell: residents spent up to thirteen hours without eating and long periods without drinking water
The medical team of the Hospital Universitario Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria detected “skin lesions” during their intervention in the residences. After the dermatological analysis of them, it was concluded that in addition to Covid in the residence there was an outbreak of scabies (scabies). Scabies is contagious and spread quickly through close physical contact, so medical treatment was applied to kill the mites that cause scabies and shed their larvae from the skin of infected residents.
In addition to scabies, at Hogar Santa Rita II a serious problem of malnutrition and dehydration was detected. The meal times were not conventional, “in some cases they passed up to thirteen hours from dinner (at seven in the afternoon) to breakfast (at six in the morning the next day) “, is explained in the report made known to the Prosecutor’s Office. In the case of large employees who require assistance to drink water signs of dehydration were also found. In addition, residents did not eat properly prepared diets for their needs. nor was there a nutrition professional in the center.
A letter addressed to the director of the residence alerts of a new outbreak of scabies on June 25 of this year, months after the intervention of Health
The problems at Hogar Santa Rita II do not end with the intervention of Health. The union delegate informed the managing director of the Foundation on June 25 that ” there is knowledge of numerous cases of scabies among users of the center but the exact number of those who are affected is unknown“As can be read in the letter,” there may be some workers affected and others with treatment, “adds the letter. the union delegate demands the referral to the mutual social security collaborator, “not admitting that the company recommends the initiation of a treatment regimen without competent medical follow-up“, he concludes.
There are only five Social Rights inspectors for the entire Canary Islands, the community that carries out the fewest inspections in all of Spain, only surpassed by Extremadura
The Social Policies inspection service is the one that evaluates the quality of care at the center and it is absolutely deficient, because it is impossible to test the quality of the more than one hundred residences in the Canary Islands with only five people. These people evaluate things as sensitive as hygiene or fall records of the elderly and dependents admitted to these residences. Hygienic sanitary conditions are reviewed by Health inspectors who are also insufficient, although much more numerous: 125 for the entire Canary Islands.
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