"You are very good at titling porn movies," joked a worker in a group of WhatsApp that brings together the employees of the Amavir entity of the residence for the elderly and dependent people of Tías. In the image, a photograph of an elderly man in a wheelchair in which his intimate parts peek out above his pants. "Speaking of the king of Rome, he appears at the door," mocked the employee who disseminated the photograph among her colleagues.
This scene is part of the images and videos that have been taken inside this socio-health space, dependent on the Cabildo de Lanzarote and whose service is outsourced to Amavir. A patient in a wheelchair abandoned in the middle of a hallway, an elderly man sleeping on a mattress without sheets or bedding, a video of another emulating that he is preparing a line of a whitish powder with a one-hundred-euro bill or another recording in which two people with functional diversity are seen kissing. To which are added beds without sheets or pillowcases.
The Cabildo of Lanzarote has reported that it has already filed a complaint for the dissemination of these photographs, assuring that they would have been allegedly taken illegally. "As soon as we became aware of the existence of these recordings, we immediately notified the authorities so that the appropriate proceedings could be initiated," Marci Acuña revealed this Friday.
Sources from the Civil Guard have confirmed to La Voz that, at least, one complaint has been filed before the armed institute on the island for the situation at the Amavir elderly residence.
To the images are added the captions shared in the Whatsapp group by some employees, called "Cuadrante Amovir", a wordplay with the name of the entity. In one of the photographs that this medium was able to access, it can be seen how a worker sent a photo of a patient sitting on the floor, which he accompanied with the text: "After looking for work and not finding it [...] she turns to destitution".
The images taken inside the residence for the elderly and dependent people of Tías, managed by the entity Amavir, have brought to light the alleged practices that were carried out in the center and have fueled complaints about malpractice, staff shortages and lack of material.
To the public complaint made in the middle of the week by the PSOE of Lanzarote, which warned of the "extreme seriousness" of the case, Comisiones Obreras joined a few hours later. After that, the Minister of Social Welfare of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, Marciano Acuña (CC), assured that the shortcomings "were not new" and branded as "alarmism" the statements of the socialist councilor Dolores Corujo (PSOE).
Dolores Corujo denounced in her press conference the job insecurity of the staff and the absence of permanent medical coverage. "There is only one doctor who provides service exclusively, who when on sick leave or vacation is not replaced," she denounced. Therefore there are periods where there would be no immediate medical supervision.