About nursing homes and care for the Elderly

Labour relations in Spain are usually regulated through collective bargaining agreements, which means that trade unions and employers' associations agree on the working conditions of a given sector. In the case of nursing homes in Spain, there is a VII Collective Agreement on Dependency which is in force until the next one is negotiated. According to the collective agreement, people working in nursing homes in Spain work a total of 1,792 hours per year according to a work schedule that also has to meet the requirements of the agreement. Although the collective agreement is, in principle, for all care homes in Spain, it is true that some regions have their own collective agreement.  This is the case of Valencia, Galicia or the Basque Country. If someone wants to buy or build a nursing home in Spain, he or she should check whether the area where it is to be set up has its own collective agreement. The collective agreement also sets the salary and working conditions. These are the sa...

A nursing home is basically an adapted building, a team of professionals and a way of working that supports the residents with quality and respect.  The care home offers 24-hour hotel service, help with activities of daily living, personal support and a certain degree of medical care. The team of professionals is therefore a key element. For many people who have a relative living in a nursing home, the feeling is that there is never enough staff.  But, how many people usually work in a care home? The regulations affecting nursing homes are regional (Comunidad Autónoma), so there is no national law that applies to the whole of Spain. The regional regulations require staff ratios of between 0.30 and 0.50, i.e. one full-time worker for every two or three residents.  As the residences are services that are open 24 hours a day every day, this staff has to be distributed so that, in the end, the number of carers present is lower.  In addition, along with the "visible" staf...