Over 2,500 elderly on waiting list for admission into retirement homes

Despite the government's investments in active ageing, the number of people waiting for admission to elderly homes has continue to rise

The government owns around 2,500 beds in various residential homes that are managed by the government as well as beds bought from private and Church-owned homes
The government owns around 2,500 beds in various residential homes that are managed by the government as well as beds bought from private and Church-owned homes

Over 2,500 persons are on the waiting list for admission into elderly homes.

Sister paper Illum has revealed how despite government initiatives to keep the elderly in the community and despite government arrangements with 17 private and Church-owned care homes, the number of people on the waiting list is increasing.

Sources who spoke to Illum said that other private homes do have a number of available beds but that the Finance Minister is being frugal when it comes to buying further bedding.

Last April, Social Solidarity Minister Michael Falzon, when responding to a parliamentary question by Partit Demokratiku MP Godfrey Farrugia, said that the buying of beds by the Active Ageing Department takes place in accordance with planning and allocated funds.

His response was: “The department is not obligated to buy every available bed in the private sector.”

A single bed in a care home costs the government somewhere between €60 and €70 every single day. This means that, every year, the government spends around €23,700 on every elderly person that is admitted to a care home.

“I cannot confirm the exact number of people on the waiting list but there are more than 2,000 people on it,” a spokesperson for the parliamentary secretary for active ageing said.

The spokesperson added that the government puts these individuals into separate categories—those with a high dependence, a medium dependence, those who are independent, and those suffering from dementia.

The people with a high dependence but are still on the waiting list is at around 250 people, the spokesperson said.

According to information presented in Parliament, up until 2015, there were 1,405 elderly people waiting to be admitted to a care home, far less than the number in 2013 when this shot up to 2,080.

Last May, the Parliamentary Secretary for Active Ageing announced an investment of €2.4 million a year so that 100 further beds in private residential homes are available for use by persons with a high to medium dependency.

Via this investment, the government bought 50 new beds in Casa Pinto in Qormi and 50 new beds in Golden Care Home in Naxxar.

Up until 2017, the government had 95 beds in Central Home in Mosta, 40 beds in Hamrun’s Casa Francesco, 94 in Roseville in Attard, 191 in Casa San Paolo in Bugibba, 146 in Villa Messina in Rabat, 127 beds in Casa Arkati in Mosta and 40 in Villa San Lawrenz in Gozo.

In total, the government owns around 2,500 beds in various residential homes that are managed by the government as well as beds bought from private and Church-owned homes.

802 high-dependency individuals benefit from these beds, as well as 1,300 elderly with medium-dependency and 160 persons who are afflicted with dementia.

The spokesperson for the active ageing parliamentary secretary said that the government spent around €50 million in 2019 alone in residential services for the elderly.

Despite the government subsidising the wage of private carers who help the elderly at their own home and 223 elderlies benefitting from this scheme, it seems that the waiting list has continue to grow bigger.