National Preventive Mechanism 2.1.3 Intolerable living conditions During a visit at a small, privately operated facility for seniors in Lower Austria, Commission 5 found such massive problems that it submitted an urgent report to the AOB. Operator alone around the clock The operator was present in the facility around the clock and she was the sole caregiver for five women between the ages of 69 and 90, all requiring nursing care. She undertook all care tasks and cooked for the residents. “Meals on Wheels” was only occasionally utilised. Every Wednesday afternoon, she was helped by a care aide from Caritas so that she could go shopping and purchase medication. A cleaning person helped out for five hours twice a week. No daily activities There was no communal room for the residents. Each woman ate in her own room and spent a lot of time alone. There were hardly any encounters between the women needing care or any opportunity for communication. There were no excursions, no joint activities, no regular animation programme or occupational activities. The operator stated that she had no resources for such activities. Any potential to improve the quality of life of the women needing nursing care through variety, orientation, movement, games and memory training remained untapped. No measures were taken to maintain autonomy and independence. Last but not least, documentation was completely inadequate. The commission stated its opinion on the spot that care by a single person of five residents requiring nursing was intolerable from a nursing perspective and was dangerous due to the fact that complications could occur at any time. Closure of facility in Lower Austria Confronted with these observations, the competent supervisory authority promptly undertook an on-site inspection that confirmed all the observations. The supervisory authority had the residents requiring nursing care moved to other facilities. Shortly thereafter, the operator decided to close the facility. Lacking mobilisation and barrier-free access; deficits in hygiene and documentation Commission 6 encountered a similar problematic situation in a facility in Burgenland, where nine aged women lived with the operator’s family in one house. The commission’s visit took place at 4 p.m. At this time, eight of the nine residents were already in bed in their rooms on the first floor. Considering that there were no plans for activities, this created the impression that nothing was undertaken during the major part of the day to mobilise the residents and encourage them to undertake activities. Answering questions, the women indicated that they spent a major part of the day watching TV and practically never left the house. In order to at least spend time together in the dining room on the ground floor, the ladies with limited mobility were carried by the operator up and down the stairs in a wheelchair as there was no barrier-free accessibility. The commissions verified the out-dated condition 86