Care home that ‘caged’ residents to be shut down

Owner of Kanchanaburi facility faces numerous charges, residents to be relocated

Health authorities are preparing to shut down an elderly care centre in Kanchanaburi after finding multiple violations, including providing services beyond the scope of its licence, including having caged beds, illegal expansion and admitting mentally ill patients.

The owner of the Sothornchai Nursing Home, former nurse Ying “Maew” Pornsermsiri, would also face legal action, Public Health Minister Pattana Promphat said during a media briefing on Wednesday.

The ministry launched an investigation into the centre in Tha Muang district on Tuesday following reports that its residents were subjected to physical and psychological abuse and inhumane living conditions. Photographs showing rows of steel bars attached above beds to confine the occupants went viral on social media.

The case came to light this week after an elderly woman alleged on the popular television programme Hone-Krasae that her son and daughter-in-law had tricked her into entering the facility more than two years ago. They kept her there against her will so they could take control of a business worth billions of baht, she said.

Ying Pornsermsiri, a former nurse who owns the Sothornchai Nursing Home, will face a number of charges, officials said on Wednesday.

The subsequent inspection found the facility had failed to meet required standards and exceeded the scope of its licence.

Dr Phuwadet Surakot, director-general of the Department of Health Service Support, said authorities had ordered the licence of the centre revoked, which amounts to a closure order, rather than merely suspending its licence temporarily.

The inspection found clear violations of two main laws. First, the centre violated the Health Establishment Act 2016 by having 129 beds when it was licensed for only 50.

The licensed floor area was 1,600 square metres, while the actual area in use was about 4,300 sq m, nearly three times the permitted size. The use of restraints to confine the residents was also a serious matter contributing to the revocation.

Second, the centre was found to have violated the Medical Facility Act, or Sanatorium Act, by providing care to psychiatric patients despite being licensed only as a health facility.

Under the law, psychiatric patients must be treated at medical facilities with doctors and specialised personnel. The centre’s patient medical records were also found to lack sufficient detail and accuracy, the authorities said.

The Department of Mental Health also stressed that using steel cages to restrain patients was not an acceptable standard of psychiatric care.

The department’s director-general, Dr Kittisak Aksornwong, said the use of restrictive measures, such as secure isolation rooms or caged areas, were permitted only in cases involving severely agitated patients or those posing a safety risk.

“For psychiatric patients who are calm, or for general people, using cages to confine or cover beds, as seen at this centre, is not a medical standard and cannot be done under any circumstances,” Dr Kittisak said.

The centre had more than 100 residents, most aged between 18 and 59, with more than 90% found to be psychiatric patients. The Department of Mental Health will assess their conditions before arranging transfers to other facilities.

Patients whose families have not yet decided on arrangements will be transferred to facilities under the department for continued care. Those affected have also filed complaints with police, Mr Pattana said.

Some patients speaking to TV reporters who visited the facility on Wednesday said they were caged on a bed when they were having “uncontrollable behaviour” but that changed after their conditions improved.