Luxembourg to Set Up Information, Mediation Service for Elderly

At a press conference on Thursday, Luxembourg's Minister for Family Affairs and Integration, Corinne Cahen, presented the government's amendments to the bill on the quality of services for the elderly.

According to the Ministry of Family Affairs, Integration and the Greater Region, the amendments made to the draft law n°7524, which was submitted on 11 February 2020, take into account a number of remarks formulated in the opinions of the professional chambers and other entities seized, and bring a series of adaptations and clarifications to the draft law in question.

The amendments aim to:

• designate referents whose mission it is to set up hygiene and health rules to be respected as well as a system of prevention and control of infections;
• create ethics committees to deal with ethical issues and issues relating to respect for fundamental rights;
• determine the elements to be evaluated by the quality management system, which may be specified by Grand Ducal regulation;
• establish a national information and mediation service for the elderly;
• set up a permanent commission for the elderly sector.

At the press conference, Minister Corinne Cahen also stressed the considerable impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the bill in question. She noted: "The elderly are at the centre of our concerns. The challenges encountered in the context of the health crisis have prompted us to clarify certain aspects so that we can act even better when it comes to rights, care and hygiene rules in the interests of residents, their relatives and staff".