QEH’s abandoned elderly issue being addressed

THE number of elderly people abandoned at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH), has been brought to the attention of the new Minister of Health who is now searching for ways to permanently resolve the situation which has been a burden on the hospital’s resources for many years.

Minister of Health and Wellness Lt Col, Jeffrey Bostic, told this publication that while he was saddened that the elderly individuals had been abandoned by their families, and left to be cared for by the State, “we have to find a permanent solution”.

“We have to try to keep elderly people within their communities and within their family structure, so community assistance programmes may be necessary.”

“But certainly, at the moment, the Ministry is looking at seeing if we could relocate those persons. There are 33 or so elderly persons who have been abandoned at the QEH, and taking up bed space. And, we cannot throw them out until we have found adequate accommodation for them,” he said.

The Minister, who took up office in May, indicated that his investigations into the matter have revealed that the St Michael District Hospital which is undergoing maintenance work has no bed space, as is the case with many of the other district hospitals across the island.

“I am quite certain that there is a requirement for more facilities to care for the elderly, but whether it is done by Government, or the private sector is another matter”.

“But, there is a requirement for that based on current capacity, current demand, and based on the fact that our population is aging, and we will have more and more people who might be seeking that sort of assistance, and at the moment, we just cannot provide it. So yes, going forward, we have to look at that as a matter of priority,” he said. (AH)