The government is "moving towards" the concept of licensing nursing homes for the elderly which would be more specialised than residential homes, Health Minister Joseph Cassar said yesterday.

Speaking in Parliament, he said that the number of elderly people was growing, as was the number of "old old" people.

He said local regulations currently did not make a distinction between old people's homes and nursing homes, and Malta actually only had the former. Nursing homes, he explained, were almost hospitals in that they catered for elderly people who needed medical care.

Dr Cassar said in reply to a parliamentary question by Anthony Agius Decelis (PL) that the current regulations on criteria and standards in old people's homes applied to all state-owned, private and Church-run homes.

The homes have to conform to safety and food regulations, cleanliness and a good state of maintenance and they need to have the necessary facilities for the care of the elderly, including the issuing of prescribed medicines.

The environment has to be such as to afford the residents privacy, safety and comfort.

All homes must be fully accessible and they must have a doctor on call in case of emergencies at all times.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.