The PSOE of Lanzarote has denounced the "silence" of the president of the Cabildo, Oswaldo Betancort, regarding the scandal surrounding the island's elderly care homes, after complaints made by workers and relatives about serious deficiencies in user care came to light, a situation that this Thursday "became even more evident" after the dissemination of shocking images recorded in social and health centers.
The general secretary of the PSOE of Lanzarote and deputy in Congress, María Dolores Corujo, has regretted that, given a matter of such gravity that directly affects the well-being and dignity of elderly people in a situation of dependency, the president of the island institution "has not yet offered public explanations nor has assumed the responsibility that a situation of this magnitude demands".
“We are talking about the care of our elderly in centers that are the direct responsibility of the Cabildo de Lanzarote, of especially vulnerable people who deserve dignified and safe attention. Given a scandal of this dimension, the least that is expected of the president of the Cabildo is that he shows his face and explains what is happening and what measures will be adopted,” Corujo pointed out.
From the PSOE they recall that the competence in socio-health matters directly corresponds to the Cabildo de Lanzarote, which is the institution responsible for supervising the operation of the centers, guaranteeing compliance with the terms and conditions, and ensuring that the care for residents is provided with all guarantees.
In this context, the socialists consider "especially worrying the reaction of the Cabildo and the Social Welfare counselor, Marciano Acuña, who in his public statements not only recognizes that the situation is not new, but subsequently seems to show greater concern for investigating the dissemination of some videos recorded in socio-health centers than for clarifying the reported deficiencies and adopting immediate measures to correct them".
“What is truly serious is not that images of what happens inside the centers are known. What is truly worrying is what those images and the complaints from workers and relatives are putting on the table,” Corujo stressed.
For the PSOE, "the priority of any responsible institution should be to verify if the reported situations are occurring, demand accountability from the concessionaire company if applicable, and immediately guarantee that care for the elderly is provided under dignified and safe conditions".
The socialists also recall that Marciano Acuña is the Social Welfare counselor "who has held that responsibility for the most years in the Cabildo de Lanzarote, which is why they consider it difficult to understand that, given a scandal of this seriousness, the institutional response deviates towards issues that do not address the underlying problem".
“With such a prolonged trajectory at the head of this area, what is expected is capacity for reaction and transparency. What cannot be done is to divert attention from the real problem,” added the socialist island secretary.
“The Cabildo cannot limit itself to reacting when the problem is already in the media. Its obligation is to permanently supervise the service and act when deficiencies are detected,” concluded Corujo.