Opposition MPs yesterday expressed concern about elderly people who are awaiting clearance to move into sheltered accommodation but are still on the waiting list, despite not being able to look after themselves.

MPs Marie Louise Coleiro and Silvio Parnis issued a statement saying that there is a number of elderly people who suffer from conditions such as dementia, who may be in danger as a result of living on their own.

The MPs referred to an answer to a parliamentary question put to Health Minister Louis Deguara, who said that the government was still following a policy of subsidising the entry of elderly people into sheltered accommodation.

However, they said that the government accommodation waiting list was getting longer and longer. This, they said, meant that the government’s policy simply was not working, bearing in mind that the auditor general had already remarked that the system was not a fair and transparent one some months ago.

The MLP said it deplored the lack of attention given to elderly people as well as what it termed to be discrimination against those who urgently need to be admitted to sheltered accommodation.