Hungarian ministry condemns suspected abuse in home for disabled

Budapest, May 4 (MTI) – The government has suspended the head of a home for people with disabilities after a civil organisation highlighted cases of mistreatment, including the physical restraint and medical neglect of disabled.

The government has launched a special investigation into discoveries by the Mental Disability Advocacy Centre of suspected abuse of residents of the facility housing 220 people with disabilities.

“The government finds what happened at the institution unacceptable,” a statement by the ministry of human resources said.

During an April visit to Topház Special Needs Institute in Göd, near Budapest, the civil group active in Hungary and the UK said it found poor hygienic conditions, malnourishment and residents with open and untreated wounds.

The state secretariat for social affairs said in a statement that the government is committed to replacing large institutions for people with disabilities with homelier, smaller and more personalised forms of care. As part of an ongoing reorganisation programme the Topház facility faces closure in the near future, it added.

The government has allocated 21.8 billion forints (EUR 70m) to move 2,500 people living with disabilities into small group homes by the end of 2018, the statement said.

Read here the Mental Disability Advocacy Centre’s report.

Source: MTI