Specialist units for care and disability facilities; reporting grievances and providing advice

The Bavarian Care and Housing Quality Act (PfleWoqG) stipulates that residents of fully inpatient care facilities and facilities for the elderly, with the exception of guests in day or night care facilities, as well as special forms of housing for integration assistance, in which integration assistance services are provided or maintained, are protected from adverse effects by the monitoring and inspection activities of the Specialist Units for Care and Disabled Facilities - Quality Development and Supervision (FQA).

The specialist units based at the district administrative authorities monitor, among other things, the protection of the dignity, interests and needs as well as the cultural, ethnic, gender and sexual identity of the residents, the appropriate quality of living, care and support, the self-determination, independence, personal responsibility and participation in the life of society of the residents as well as the deployment of sufficiently professionally qualified and personally suitable staff. The state supervisory authority must be notified of the intention to operate an inpatient facility or special residential form of integration assistance at least three months before the planned start of operations, as well as, for example, its closure, relocation, change of type or number of beds and change of management.

The PfleWoqG also contains regulations for hospices, short-term care facilities, self-directed and provider-directed outpatient assisted living communities for people in need of care and assisted living groups for people with disabilities.

The specialist unit performs advisory and information tasks as well as monitoring and control functions. It can inspect fully inpatient facilities and special forms of housing at any time without prior notice, request certain information and issue orders if deficiencies are found. These can range from requirements to remedy individual deficiencies to a ban on admission, employment bans and a ban on operation.