“I can bang a spoon on the table for half an hour to get the nurse to come.”

This complaint was heard by monitors during a visit to the Chernihiv Geriatric Nursing Home. The monitoring visit was attended by the regional coordinator for public relations of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Commissioner for Human Rights in the Chernihiv region, Alla Lepekha, together with representatives of the public – the head of the Chernihiv regional branch of the All-Ukrainian charitable organization “All-Ukrainian Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS” Angela Moiseenko and independent journalist Mykola Ivashchenko.

At the time of the visit, 350 people lived in the facility, of which 212 were disabled. The monitors noted the comfortable and appropriate living conditions of the nursing home. Most of the residents live in properly equipped rooms for two, fully equipped with linen and clothing. Disabled people are provided with wheelchairs and small mechanization devices. The boarding house regularly hosts cultural and educational events, a library is open, and residents also have the opportunity to go to pray in the chapel on the territory.

During personal communication, the residents noted a high level of medical services. At the same time, some of those interviewed complained about the quality of food, although they immediately noted that, given the difficult times for the state, they are ready to suffer and independently buy additional products at the store with their own money. There were complaints about power outages in the rooms during the day. As representatives of the administration explained, the outages are carried out only for the purpose of saving money. There were also complaints about the improper attitude towards the residents of the boarding house by junior medical staff.

The institution also revealed some violations of the Laws of Ukraine “On Information” and “On Access to Public Information”. In particular, the director’s schedule for receiving wards dates back to 2005, access to information on human rights is not provided, there are no addresses of government bodies for wards to address, a book of complaints and suggestions.

Based on the results of the visit, a corresponding response act of the Commissioner for Human Rights was prepared in order to eliminate the identified violations.