The article that appeared in Times of Malta on April 8 under the heading ‘No standards of care for elderly residences’ makes a number of gratuitous and incorrect statements with regard to Casa Francesco Home for the Elderly which need to be addressed.

In the first place the correspondent stated that the government ended the contract over “poor service”. This is not true and could have been confirmed with a simple check.

The audits carried out by the government indicated clearly that there was nothing wrong with the service, but that there was a “collapse in the management structure”. This was primarily due to the manager at the time having abandoned her post.

This administrator does not form any part of the present structure of Casa Francesco. At no time did the government indicate that Casa Francesco is of low standard or offers a poor service. Far from it!

Had the reporter spoken to the owners of Casa Francesco or any of the present residents she would have immediately confirmed the professionalism and good service that is provided by Casa Francesco.

The use of the Casa Francesco name in order to discuss the need for the assessment of the minimum standard requirements of Homes for the Elderly was wrong, unfair and factually incorrect.

I take the opportunity to ask the reporter to visit Casa Francesco anytime – something she should have done prior to penning the referred article.