After having operations at Mater Dei Hospital, patients will be contacted by telephone to ensure they are taking their medication properly at home.

The Telecare emergency call system for the elderly will be expanded, according to the Parliamentary Secretary for Elderly, Franco Mercieca.

More details would be given over the next few weeks, he told elderly people during a conference for pensioners organised by the General Workers’ Union.

During the conference, participants raised the issue of security. They said they did not always feel safe at home and asked Mr Mercieca if the Government planned to tackle this.

Mr Mercieca said he would soon be announcing “something that enhances security at home... and builds on the concept of the Telecare system”.

The system reaches about 9,000 people. It is subsidised by the Government and operated by telecom firm Go.

Mr Mercieca said he would be rolling out the 10-year strategy for the elderly in mid-October, which would aim to ensure they still formed part of society, kept working and stayed independent.

After a man said he found it difficult to find a job because of his age, Mr Mercieca said the strategy would include various recommendations such as setting up a section for the elderly within the Employment and Training Corporation and introducing tax incentives when employing an elderly person.

Any such recommendations would be discussed with employers before being implemented.

He said the Government was working on legislation aimed at protecting the elderly against abuse. It was also striving to improve services in homes for the elderly and reducing waiting lists. Health Minister Godfrey Farrugia said that, by 2060, it was estimated that 38 per cent of Malta’s population would be elderly, therefore care was vital.

Speaking on out-of-stock medicines, he assured those present he had a road map. He said he had inherited a situation that left him with a budget of €36 million when it was meant to be €96 million.

Efforts were being made to come up with a better system of ordering medicine.

Likewise, the storage system would be improved to ensure that medicine was kept in one place and managed better.

Replying to a question by a pensioner, Dr Farrugia said staff from Mater Dei Hospital would soon start phoning patients after an operation to ensure they were taking their medication properly at home.