The new "Administrative Measures for Elderly Care Institutions" is expected to be solved
Provisions for adding video surveillance facilities to elderly care institutions
With the promulgation and implementation of the new "Administrative Measures for Elderly Care Institutions", there have been imperfect regulatory systems, inadequate coordination mechanisms, bullying and abuse of the elders that once existed in elder care services, and they have been exposed in response to the new crown pneumonia epidemic. Problems such as insufficient emergency rescue capabilities are expected to be solved.
□ reporter Zhang Wei
The "Administrative Measures for Aged Care Institutions" ushered in a major overhaul 7 years after its promulgation.
The reporter learned from the recent press conference held by the Ministry of Civil Affairs that on August 21 this year, the Ministry of Civil Affairs will deliberate and approve the newly revised "Administrative Measures for Elderly Care Institutions" (hereinafter referred to as the "New Measures"), and issue a ministerial order on September 1. It was announced that the new "Measures" will be formally implemented on November 1 this year.
With the promulgation and implementation of the new "Measures", there have been imperfect supervision systems, inadequate coordination mechanisms, and behaviors such as bullying and abuse of the elderly in old-age care services. The emergency rescue capabilities have been exposed in response to the new crown pneumonia epidemic. Problems such as deficiencies are expected to be solved.
Strengthen the government's guarantee responsibility
In June 2013, the Ministry of Civil Affairs issued the "Administrative Measures for Elderly Care Institutions" (hereinafter referred to as the old "Measures") in order to cooperate with the implementation of the newly revised Law on the Protection of Rights and Interests of the Elderly and to regulate the services of elderly care institutions.
Compared with the previous ones, the new "Measures" that are now available have changed a lot. In the words of Xiao Dengfeng, Director of the Department of Policies and Regulations of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, "the extent of amendments is very large."
Indeed, judging from the number of provisions in the new "Measures" alone, 17 new items have been added to the old "Measures" and as many as 29 items have been revised. This can be regarded as a "comprehensive revision" of the old "Measures".
In the general provisions of the new "Measures", there have been many new additions: clear division of pension institutions into for-profit pension institutions and non-profit pension institutions.
The new "Measures" added content related to the basic requirements for the activities of elderly care institutions, clarifying that elderly care institutions should carry out services in accordance with laws and regulations such as construction, fire protection, food safety, medical and health, and special equipment and mandatory national standards, "to further suppress Real responsibility, to avoid the problem of the safety bottom line being broken down due to the cancellation of the permit,” Xiao Dengfeng said.
The government has strengthened its responsibility for the protection of elderly care institutions invested by the government, and added relevant content that requires them to protect the service needs of the elderly such as those in extreme poverty and families with special difficulties in family planning.
The relevant content of the reform of the operating mode of government-funded elderly care institutions also appears in the new "Measures."
This new regulation clarifies that pension institutions invested and established by the government can adopt entrusted management, lease management, etc., and be operated and managed by social forces.
On December 29, 2018, the Seventh Meeting of the Standing Committee of the 13th National People’s Congress "Decision on Amending Seven Laws including the Labor Law of the People’s Republic of China" carried out a review of the Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Protection of the Rights and Interests of the Elderly Amendments were made and the previous regulations regarding the establishment of elderly care institutions requiring permits were cancelled.
Article 43 of the Law on the Protection of the Rights and Interests of the Elderly stipulates that the establishment of a public welfare pension institution shall be registered in accordance with the law.
The establishment of an operating pension institution shall be registered with the market supervision and management department.
After registration, the elderly care institutions can carry out service activities and file with the civil affairs department of the people's government at or above the county level.
To this end, in accordance with the provisions of the Law on the Protection of the Rights and Interests of the Elderly, this revision detailed the relevant content of the filing system with five articles in the special chapter "Recording Handling.
It specifically stipulates the filing authority, filing time, filing submission materials, filing processing procedures, change filing, and filing related information disclosure and sharing.
Strengthen civil affairs supervision and inspection responsibilities
Another highlight of the new "Measures" is about service standards.
According to Xiao Dengfeng, it is mainly to clarify the requirements of elderly care institutions to provide the elderly with life care, rehabilitation care, spiritual comfort, cultural entertainment and other service activities.
The admission evaluation system has been improved, and it is stipulated that elderly care institutions should evaluate the physical and mental conditions of the elderly and determine or change the level of care for the elderly based on the evaluation results.
In accordance with the new crown pneumonia epidemic prevention and control practices and the requirements of the Infectious Disease Prevention and Control Law, the response measures for elderly care institutions when they find that the elderly are infectious or suspected infectious patients are specified, and it is clear that they should promptly report to the nearby disease prevention and control institution or medical institution to cooperate in implementation Preventive and control measures such as sanitary treatment and isolation.
Added content for elderly care institutions to assist elderly family members to visit and greet the elderly; added content that encourages elderly care institutions to develop extended services, and clarified that elderly care institutions can operate community elderly care service facilities, or come to provide meals and baths for the elderly at home , Cleaning and other services.
In addition, in terms of operation and management, the new "Measures" mainly regulate the internal working mechanism of pension institutions.
Including the importance of building a team of elderly nursing staff, increasing the content of the remuneration system that reflects the professional skill level of elderly nursing staff in increasing nursing institutions; emphasizing the safety protection work of nursing institutions, increasing nursing institutions should install video surveillance facilities in relevant public places, and properly Keep the content of video surveillance records; in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Emergency Response Law, strengthen the prevention and handling of emergencies by elderly care institutions. In addition to formulating emergency contingency plans, they should also be equipped with necessary facilities and equipment and regularly organize emergency emergencies During the drill, after an emergency occurs, the elderly care institution must take necessary measures to prevent the expansion of the harm.
The substantial revision of the new "Measures" is also reflected in the supervision and inspection. After all, after the establishment of the pension institution's license is cancelled, effective supervision and inspection in the matter becomes particularly important.
Xiao Dengfeng said that the new "Measures" implement the comprehensive regulatory requirements and clarify that if the civil affairs department discovers illegal behaviors in elderly care institutions that should be investigated and dealt with by other departments during supervision and inspection, they should promptly notify the relevant departments for handling.
Strengthen the supervision and inspection responsibilities of civil affairs departments, clarify the implementation of the "double random, one open" supervision method, and require the civil affairs departments to conduct on-site inspections on the service safety and quality of elderly care institutions at least once a year.
In response to the issue of illegal fund-raising in the field of elderly care services, the new "Measures" clarify the responsibilities of civil affairs departments for prevention, monitoring and early warning.
The new "Measures" also provide for the disposal of activities in the name of pension institutions without registration.
In addition, the new "Measures" intensified the disciplinary measures after the event, increased the penalties for warnings, improved the behavioral methods for the elderly care institutions to assume legal responsibilities, and will not establish an admission evaluation system or conduct evaluation activities in accordance with regulations or provide services in accordance with the agreement. Services, failure to prevent and deal with emergencies in accordance with the law, etc. have increased as circumstances that should be punished.
Senior care institutions should be on duty 24 hours a day
The new "Measures" also provides a better solution to the public's concern about the security of elderly care institutions.
Security is greater than the sky.
"Safety work is the bottom line of the services of elderly care institutions." Li Banghua, deputy director of the Department of Elderly Services of the Ministry of Civil Affairs emphasized.
Safety is first of all the safety of facilities and equipment in elderly care institutions, and the bottom line of safety must be strictly observed.
Li Banghua said that elderly care institutions comply with laws, regulations and mandatory standards in terms of construction, fire protection, food safety, medical and health, and special equipment.
"Meeting these requirements means that elderly care institutions must be qualified in the relevant facilities, equipment and environment."
Since 2017, the Ministry of Civil Affairs and relevant departments have carried out special actions for 4 consecutive years.
After nearly 4 years of safety rectification, a total of more than 400,000 hidden dangers in elderly care services have been rectified, of which hidden dangers involving fire protection, facilities and equipment account for the majority.
"Of course we talk about the requirements for fire protection, food safety, and construction facilities and equipment. There are special regulations in various fields. The new "Measures" incorporates the requirements of these related fields this time and further reiterates and clarifies." Li Banghua said.
The second is the safety of service operations. The new "Measures" improve the requirements for hospital admission assessment, signing of service agreements, service standards, personnel qualifications, and handling of emergencies, and strengthen the standardized management of service behaviors of elderly care institutions.
Due to the physical characteristics of the elderly, accidents are prone to occur during the service process during their stay in an elderly care institution.
The new "Measures" clearly require that elderly care institutions should implement 24-hour duty, install video surveillance facilities in public places, and encourage liability insurance to reduce operational risks.
Thirdly, the supervision of safety matters is highlighted in the supervision. If the civil affairs department finds that there are risks that may endanger personal health and the safety of life and property, the civil affairs department will require them to order corrections within a time limit. If they do not make corrections within the time limit, they will be ordered to suspend business for rectification.
Penalties for related safety matters have been added to the legal responsibilities of the new Measures.
Li Banghua added that the mandatory national standard of the "Basic Norms for Service Safety in Elderly Care Institutions" released at the end of last year will be implemented on January 1, 2022. At that time, the new "Measures" will also be connected with the implementation of this mandatory national standard. If this mandatory national standard provides services, the civil affairs department will impose administrative penalties in accordance with the law.