A single file for admissions to retirement homes

A single file from 1 June

Finding a place in a retirement home is often felt by families to be a real obstacle course. Finding an establishment that meets the criteria that are important to the elderly person and their family is far from simple. However, having to fill in a different admission file for each establishment under consideration only complicates the lives of families looking for a solution for their elderly loved one who can no longer or no longer wishes to remain at home.

To remedy this problem, the government has finally introduced a single application form for admission to residential care facilities for the dependent elderly (EHPAD).

Published as an annex to an order and a decree on 17 April 2012 in the Journal Officiel, the single file has seven pages divided into two sections:

• An administrative section to be filled in by the elderly person or their legal representative, including information on the civil status of the future resident and the contact details of the persons to be contacted following the application for admission,
• A medical section, filled in by the elderly person's GP or another doctor, concerning the elderly person's autonomy, medical history, current treatments, etc. This will enable the establishment's coordinating doctor to give his or her opinion on whether the EHPAD can accommodate the applicant.

Simplifying procedures

The introduction of this single file aims to simplify the procedures for admission to a retirement home for the elderly person and their family. The single file also aims to reduce the workload of the attending physicians, who until now have had to complete a medical file for each establishment to which the elderly person applied for admission.

The family and the doctor will now only have to fill in one file. It will be sufficient to photocopy it and submit it to as many establishments as necessary, together with various documents, in particular the last tax assessment and proof of pension. More than 225 000 admissions per year would be affected by this simplification of procedures.