高齢者施設火災 ずさん管理を戒める判決だ

The Yomiuri Shimbun (Jan. 21, 2013)
Ruling should serve as warning for better nursing care facilities
高齢者施設火災　ずさん管理を戒める判決だ（1月20日付・読売社説）

A court ruling handed down last week should be viewed as a warning against sloppy management at nursing care facilities for elderly people.
　管理がずさんな高齢者施設に対し、裁判所が警鐘を鳴らした。

A fire in 2009 at Seiyo Home Tamayura nursing home in Shibukawa, Gunma Prefecture, claimed the lives of 10 of its residents.
　群馬県渋川市の高齢者施設「静養ホームたまゆら」で２００９年に発生した火災により、入居者１０人が死亡した。

In Friday's ruling, the Maebashi District Court sentenced a former director of the facility to two years' imprisonment, suspended for four years, after finding him guilty of professional negligence resulting in death.
業務上過失致死罪に問われた運営法人の元理事長に対し、前橋地裁は禁錮２年の執行猶予付き判決を言い渡した。

At the time of the blaze, only one caretaker was on duty, the ruling said. A number of combustibles, such as plastic containers of kerosene and cardboard boxes were left in the hallways of the facility, but no smoke detectors had been installed. The nursing home also had never conducted any emergency drills.
　火災当時、当直者は１人だけだった。通路には燃えやすい灯油ポリタンクや段ボールが置かれ、煙感知器は未設置だった。避難訓練も実施していなかったという。

The court naturally condemned the nursing home for its poor management by failing to take necessary steps to ensure its residents' safety, a responsibility that the ruling said constitutes the basis of the facility's operation.
　判決が「施設運営の根幹である入居者の生命の安全に関わる注意義務を怠っていた」と非難したのは当然である。

The facility was an unregistered nursing home. Single elderly people from Sumida Ward, Tokyo, were accommodated there through arrangements made by the ward government.
　この施設は、いわゆる無届けホームで、東京都墨田区が、生活保護を受ける区内の単身高齢者に入所を斡旋(あっせん)した。

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Acute shortage of facilities

As the ward government had elderly people taken care of by the unregistered nursing home without first conducting studies on how the facility was run, the authorities concerned should bear part of the responsibility for the tragedy.
　区は施設の管理実態の調査をしないまま、住民を紹介していた。区の責任も免れない。

Unfortunately, the Sumida Ward case is not unique.
　墨田区のケースは、決して例外ではない。

Many other ward governments in Tokyo also have been arranging to have their elderly residents sent to nursing facilities outside the metropolitan area.
東京の多くの区でも、都外の施設に区民の入所を斡旋してきた経緯がある。

Of about 2,800 elderly people from Tokyo wards who are in nursing homes while receiving welfare benefits, about 70 percent have been living in facilities outside Tokyo.
　生活保護を受けながら高齢者施設に入所している東京都区部の約２８００人のうち、都外の施設で暮らす人は約７割を占める。

Many nursing homes concerned are unregistered, and like Seiyo Home Tamayura their fees are far less expensive than registered facilities.
　施設の中には、たまゆらのように入所料金が安価な無届けホームも少なくない。

There are about 250 unregistered nursing facilities nationwide, according to a Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry survey.
厚生労働省の調査では、無届けホームは全国で約２５０か所に上る。

This situation is a result of the acute shortage of nursing facilities in Tokyo and other big cities. High land prices in major urban centers make it difficult to secure plots of land to build new nursing homes.
　背景にあるのが、都市部での介護施設の著しい不足だ。地価が高く、用地確保が困難な大都市での新設は容易でない。

To address this problem, the government has set up a subsidy system for building such facilities in urban areas, with the aim of increasing "low-cost homes for the aged." However, little progress has been made in this respect.
　都市部で低所得者が入所できる「軽費老人ホーム」を増やすため、政府は補助制度を設けたが、建設は思うように進んでいない。

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Exploit private sector

As long as elderly people are being sent to facilities outside Tokyo, it is imperative that ward governments ensure the safety of the residents by determining how the facilities are managed and carrying out regular safety checks.
　地方の施設への入所が避けられない以上、住民の安全を確保するため、区は施設の運営状況をきちんと把握し、定期的にチェックすることが大切である。

Efforts should also be redoubled to devise plans to enable people in urban areas to continue to live in communities they are used to. Toward this end, new or remodeled housing units friendly to elderly people must be prepared, in addition to expanding in-home care services.
　都市部の人が地元で暮らし続けられるよう知恵を絞ることも必要だ。中でも、高齢者が住みやすい住宅や在宅介護サービスの拡充は急務である。

Making better use of private-sector capabilities is essential for these plans to move forward.
　それには民間の力を活用することも欠かせない。

A notable example of such an initiative is a program by a government-authorized nonprofit organization to lease apartments as housing units to accommodate and provide proper nursing care to elderly people.
ＮＰＯ法人がアパートを借り上げ、介護サービス付きの高齢者向け住宅として運営している例がある。

If vacant properties in urban areas are converted into facilities for the aging population, the costs involved would likely be much lower than constructing new nursing homes.
　都市部の集合住宅の空室や空き家を高齢者向けに活用すれば、介護施設の新設より低コストで済むのではないだろうか。

Cooperation between local governments and the private sector is key to taking on these tasks.
官民一体となった取り組みが求められる。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Jan. 20, 2013)
（2013年1月20日01時41分  読売新聞）