According to the report by the German Institute for Human Rights (DIMR), about 348,000 people, who live in nursing homes or are cared for at home, are not fed properly. Some 440,000 people have bedsores and 212,500 incontinent patients are not properly looked after.

"So many people are affected by this that one has to assume that it's a structural problem," Valentin Aichele, the report's author, said at a press conference, adding that the study only gave a partial impression of the care situation in Germany. The report is based on statistics from Germany's health insurance companies.

In order to deal with the problem, the DIMR has called on the government to introduce standards for humane basic care as well as local centers where people can receive advice and complain about flawed care. While politically independent, the DIMR is funded jointly by Germany's ministries for justice, foreign affairs and economic development.

Too much pressure on caregivers?

While DIMR officials also call for more frequent and unannounced controls of nursing homes, others said that the problems had to do with a changing clientele in nursing homes and an increased workload for caregivers.

"We're taking care of an increasing number of people with dementia and severe needs," Claudia Pohl of the German Nurses Association told the Web site of Der Spiegel newsmagazine.

She added that it was hard to convince patients to eat and drink during hot weather and that caregivers often simply didn't have enough time to talk them into it.