The demand for Meals on Wheels is double the current possibility of supply, Parliamentary Secretary for the Elderly Franco Mercieca told the House Family Affairs Committee, which discussed the situation regarding the elderly.
Answering Mario Galea (PN), who asked about the possibility of extending the service, Dr Mercieca said that the limiting factor was not the delivery but the actual cooking since the kitchen lacked both space and staff.
Moreover, the meals needed to be delivered in refrigerated vans and this issue had to be addressed.
Deborah Schembri (PL) asked if there was any structure which the elderly could rely on not only for social support but also for help in real ways when an elderly person is abandoned.
The meals needed to be delivered in refrigerated vans and this issue had to be addressed
Dr Mercieca said it was the Government’s intention to turn the day care centres into places which educated and helped the elderly in their daily needs and not simply provided entertainment.
Turing to the Telecare service, Dr Mercieca agreed with Mr Galea that the current infrastructure was dated. He said several options were being discussed to try to update the service.
Referring to remarks by Mr Galea on the need to create 150 beds every year to accommodate the elderly, Dr Mercieca said the Government planned to increase the number of beds through a public private partnership. No new homes for the elderly would be constructed.
Negotiations with the private sector were ongoing and the requisite number of beds would be provided at the right standard of care. Beds through PPP were effectively cheaper than beds provided by the Government which on average cost €90 per day against an average of €35 with PPP.
The discussion then turned to the dementia wards. Mr Galea said that all the homes for the elderly should be dementia-friendly, given both the increase in the proliferation of this condition and the National Dementia Policy which had been drafted.
Dr Mercieca said the condition was being given priority and a multi-disciplinary team was being deployed to assess the condition of the patients.
He said that this approach should upgrade not only the statistics but also give a more objective and independent view of the needs of patients.
Mr Galea appealed to the Government to finalise the National Dementia Strategy saying that the document had been all but finalised before the general election.
Dr Mercieca said the Government had retained the same expert in the formulation of the strategy and, seeing that he felt the need to update the policy, this should be done. He acknowledged the work carried out by the previous administration on the strategy but said the expert’s should be the last word.
The Parliamentary Secretary concluded by saying that the Government was seeking to eliminate waiting lists for the community services to help ensure the elderly lived in the community for as long as possible.