Last July, there were almost 2,000 elderly men and women on waiting lists to get into a government nursing home, or St Vincent de Paule Residence. That’s 2,000 elderly people looking for a nursing home bed. Will they get one?
The maximum capacity of private and government homes plus St Vincent de Paule is about 4,000 beds in total. However, all these homes are already close to full capacity. Sadly, as things stand, a bed becomes free only when its occupant passes away.
In this light, the demand and supply problem is as obvious as it is stark. The demand for nursing home beds is higher than its supply. The heart-wrenching reality today is that thousands of elderly men and women on nursing home waiting lists will not move from the list to the bed.
And this simple calculation does not take into account the waiting lists for entry into Church and private homes.
Needless to say, community services such as home help, meals on wheels and the handyman service have gone a long way to assist elderly people to continue living in their own home. And they remain an important part of the way forward. But on their own such services are not sufficient, particularly for those who are frail.
As a partial solution, the government, in collaboration with local councils and the Church, is testing the viability of night shelters. But, so far, only two have been opened: in Żejtun and Mellieħa.
Acute as this problem is at present, matters are bound to get worse, much worse in the coming years. This because, while the demand will certainly increase, the supply might even decrease.
The facts speak for themselves. Actually, on the demand side, one fact will suffice. In the next 25 years, the number of those who are 75 years or older is expected to double. This will mean that, all else being equal, the demand for nursing home beds will probably also double. Will the supply of nursing home beds increase to meet this doubling of the demand? It does not look very likely.
Again, it is the facts that point in this direction. Today, there are no pending private and public applications for the opening of new nursing homes. Although nine local councils have “planned” to open one for their respective communities, none have materialised so far.
To make matters even more critical, the Church – which was a national trailblazer in the care for the elderly in Malta’s past – has not only failed to sustain its involvement but has actually closed down some of its own homes.
Clearly, providing long-term care in its homes is proving to be too much of a financial burden on the Church’s coffers.
This is not a pretty picture for the elderly men and women already on nursing home waiting lists and for those who might need to be in the coming years. Neither is it comforting for those hard-working men and women who are thinking about the best way of caring for their parents when they no longer can.
In the circumstances, there is no doubt that some fresh, creative and scientifically-based thinking is required to address the challenge. For today and for the future.
The author is a midwife by profession with keen interest in old age issues.