UPDATED: 24-year-old ends up in old people's home after accident

(Adds government reaction)

The Labour Party has expressed solidarity with a 24-year-old man who has ended up in a bed at an old people's home because, it said, the government could not give him the round-the-clock assistance he needed after injuries caused by a traffic accident.

The case involves Clayton Micallef, now a patient at St Vincent de Paule Home.

He was paralysed following an accident on June 27, 2004.

Mr Micallef received specialised treatment for six months in an institution in the UK and the overseas experts said he needed round the clock assistance to live a life which was as near as possible to normality.

The authorities for a time offered to fund a care worker for 50 hours a week. Thanks to people's generosity, this was raised to 20 hours a day.

But after two years the money ran out and the only alternative given to Mr Micallef was a bed at St Vincent de Paule.

Labour MP Tony Agius Decelis said that Mr Micallef had now been told that the 50-hour assistance was being stopped.

He said the current situation was making Mr Micallef feel like he was existing, without dignity, not living

The Labour MP uged the government to offer an urgent, effective, remedy for Mr Micallef to be able to live a better life.

The government in a statement this evening accused the MLP of trying to take political advantage from Mr Micallef’s case, which it described as being delicate and complicated.

The government said it would respect Mr Micallef’s privacy, but it wanted to say that he was receiving full attention, and, as in the past, the necessary assistance would continue to be provided.

The government pointed out that Mr Micallef had lived at home for 24 months, during which the carers were changed some 20 times. He was also assisted by the Sapport Agency, which was continuing to help him at St Vincent de Paule, with 343 hours of attention by carers so far to supplement the staff of the home. This, therefore, was not a financial issue.