Elderly people transferred recently to the private home Casa Francesco under a public-private partnership agreement will be relocated after the government terminated the contract.

Parliamentary Secretary for the Elderly Justyne Caruana yesterday evening confirmed the contract had been stopped after the service given by the private home fell short of what was expected.

Dr Caruana said the secretariat was in the process of relocating to government homes the 23 elderly people who benefitted from the PPP agreement.

This newspaper last night received phone calls from worried relatives after the operators of the home informed those who were transferred there recently that they would be relocated.

“They told my mother the home was facing difficulties,” a concerned daughter said, adding her mother did not know where she was being transferred to.

After verifying the complaints received from residents... we decided to immediately terminate the contract

The government entered into a PPP agreement with Casa Francesco in Santa Venera earlier this month as a stopgap measure to free up beds at Mater Dei Hospital and the Karen Grech Rehabilitation Centre.

The home started operating last September and was officially inaugurated by the President in December.

The nursing home has an accommodation capacity of 75 beds and is operated by L’Agora Malta, part of L’Agora Italia, an Italian group specialising in the management of residential homes for the elderly.

Dr Caruana said PPP contracts stipulated the level of service expected from the private entity in line with standards set by the department.

“After verifying the complaints received from residents over the service offered by the private home, we decided to immediately terminate the contract.”

She insisted there was no cause for alarm and pending the relocation of the residents who benefitted from the PPP agreement, the service gaps at the home would be filled by department staff.

Dr Caruana insisted the government was adopting a zero-tolerance approach towards bad service in the care of the elderly.

“This is why we stopped the contract immediately.”

kurt.sansone@timesofmalta.com