A 92-year-old blind woman, who lives alone in Valletta, has been waiting to be placed in a residential home for many years, highlighting a blatant lack of admissions’ policy, Social Solidarity Minister Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca said.
The new Government, she added, was committed to improving the situation and ensuring there was a clear policy in place for the elderly that also covered admissions.
The Government was starting by commissioning an independent audit of the operations at St Vincent de Paul Residence, Malta’s largest elderly home that hosts more than 1,000 people.
Speaking during a press conference held at the Luqa residence, she said the audit would ensure the residence was run efficiently, that residents got a value-for-money service and led a good quality of life.
“We don’t want homes to be that point when the elderly feel they have reached the final stage of their life,” she said, adding that the audit would also ensure money was not wasted.
Parliamentary Secretary for the Elderly Franco Mercieca said €50 million from the Budget had been allocated to elderly care. Over the past years this sector had accumulated a debt of €11 million and this had to be addressed.
Dr Coleiro Preca said the audit would serve as a stepping stone towards a holistic strategy for the elderly and fresh policies following consultation with all stakeholders, including patients and employees.
Apart from that, she said, Labour MP Anthony Agius Decelis had been appointed consultant for the elderly and will be based at the Marsa residence.
Mr Agius Decelis was the former Opposition spokesman for the elderly who has just completed his Masters degree in Gerontology and Geriatrics.
Dr Coleiro Preca said he would not be paid “a penny over and above his MP salary”.
She said it was unacceptable to see that shortcomings listed in a 2005 Auditor General report into St Vincent de Paul had not been addressed.
The report, tabled in Parliament in May 2005, found residents were happy with the medical, nursing and caring services provided but it also highlighted that an inspection of the kitchen raised concern, since there was “a high risk of an outbreak of food-borne diseases”.
To give an example Dr Coleiro Preca said that when she was handing out Easter figolli to the elderly last weekend she was appalled to see that these were not individually wrapped, which was unhygienic.
“We’re not here to rock the boat. We’re here to row it. And we will be rowing hard,” the minister said.