Update from Municipal Social Services regarding death of homeless man

Regarding the tragic death of our homeless fellow citizen, Giorgos Kompolitis, who had been living in the public space of Spilia square, the Central Corfu and Diapontia Islands Municipal Social Services Department has provided the following update:

The deceased was a beneficiary of our Municipality's Community Centre, receiving the Guaranteed Minimum Income allowance, and also a beneficiary of the services of the Central Corfu and Diapontia Islands Municipal Day Care Centre for the Homeless.

Both our service and the Day Care Centre for the Homeless made numerous efforts to have him admitted to the Corfu Nursing Home, but he was adamantly opposed.

On September 24, 2024, our service sent a Social Information Report to the Prosecutor's Office of the Corfu Court of First Instance, which described in detail the homeless man's condition and proposed his immediate transfer to Corfu General Hospital for an assesment of his health and, subsequently, his admission to a Care Unit (either the Nursing Home or a Closed Psychosocial Support Unit).

On October 14, at 1:45 pm, our service received a call from staff at the Day Care Centre for the Homeless, informing us that the homeless man had been found in a very poor condition, with low oxygen levels, in front of a closed kiosk in the Spilia area of Corfu Town.

Our service immediately notified the Prosecutor's Office by phone and asked for the immediate transfer of the man by ambulance along with police escort to Corfu General Hospital.

Following further communication with staff from the Day Care Centre for the Homeless, we were informed that they had already called an ambulance and the police, but the homeless man categorically refused to be admitted to the hospital.

This morning, we were informed that the homeless man had passed away.

Our service took all the legally required actions authorised under our responsibilities.