Retirement and nursing homes 2 Findings and recommendations 2.1 Retirement and nursing homes 2.1.1 Introduction 109 monitoring visits The NPM commissions visited a total of 109 public, non-profit or profitoriented short- and long-term nursing homes in the year under review; 86 of the visits were unannounced. Most of the visits were cancelled between the middle of March and the end of May due to the reasons explained in chapter 1.2. However, even during this time, evidence of maladministration was examined, and strategies developed to stay in contact with the institutions (see chapter 2.1.2). Recognition and thanks to those employed in the care sector The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the systemic relevance of long-term care for the health care system in a dramatic way. The attention of the media and politicians was nevertheless focused primarily on the hospital sector and the capacity of normal wards and intensive care both after the pandemic broke out in spring and during the most difficult phase in autumn 2020. The NPM thanks all those who worked in care institutions and facilities with a high level of personal dedication under particularly difficult conditions. Even though they were largely unprepared for the pandemic and at times were themselves only inadequately protected and supported, they made a considerable contribution to preventing substantially higher numbers of cases and deaths. The scenes of residents left alone and the dead uncared for as seen in care facilities in Spain and Italy in the spring did not materialise in Austria. Greater appreciation on the part of society and financial recognition for the work of employees in the care sector are urgently required. Care reform still pending If the exhaustive care reform that has been demanded by the NPM for years is further postponed as has been the case to date, there is a risk that the system will collapse after the health crisis (see also NPM Report 2019, p. 22 et seq.). The Federal Government and the Laender have still not reached agreement on how the sustained financing of care will be ensured in the future and how the care sector can be expanded based on needs and comprehensible standards. It is also still unclear how staff shortages in particular in the area of long-term care and mobile services will be countered. More attractive working conditions must be created urgently and the salary gaps between public and private employers as well as between the hospital and care sector must be closed in order to recruit sufficient numbers of staff. The Austrian Court of Audit also emphasised the necessity for nationwide standards in calculating home tariffs and staffing in their report “Pflege in Österreich” (“Care in Austria”). It criticised the lack of valid quality standards for nursing homes, for example for specialised care, quality of life as well as medical and social care. The Court therefore demanded coordinated management taking the interfaces between 25