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A private hospice located in the "Lipnik" forest park near Ruse does not have an up-to-date license for the provision of relevant social services - this is clear from the correspondence between the mayor of Ruse Pencho Milkov and the acting minister of labor and social policy Lazar Lazarov, the Social Assistance Agency and the Agency for the Quality of Social Services, reported today from the press center of the Ruse municipality.

The local administration recalls that the state institutions were notified by the mayor Pencho Milkov immediately after the disappearance of an elderly man with suspicion of senile dementia.

84-year-old Georgi Nedelchev left home alone at the beginning of the month and is still being sought by the authorities of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

The mayor's office explains that during Milkov's visit to the private hospice, poor hygiene and sanitary living conditions were found, insufficient staff to care for the residents and provide adequate medical assistance, as well as a lack of the required documentation for them.

Hospice almost buried a 66-year-old woman alive

"From the answers to the Municipality of Ruse, it is clear that in December 2022, employees of the Agency for the Quality of Social Services found violations on the spot and issued acts to the owners. In February of this year, the Agency refused to extend the home's license, but and to this day it continues to work and fees are collected from the families of those accommodated. On March 8 of this year, employees of the Social Assistance Agency discussed with the users of the hospice the possibilities of using state social services", informs the town hall in the Danube city .

From there they also state that, given the control powers of the Agency for the Quality of Social Services, the municipality of Ruse continues to insist that immediate actions be taken to suspend the service, and that the elderly be given the opportunity to live in better and healthier conditions.

The hospice told BNT that, as of today, they are still in the licensing process.

"This is a misunderstanding. Our license renewal was refused due to a wrong letter in an email. This is practically a typographical error. We have filed a lawsuit and for now we will not comment further on the subject," said Milena Hristova.

We are also waiting for an official opinion of the Agency for Control of Social Services on this matter.

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