Elderly people will be receiving faster intermediate care at St Vincent de Paul care facility, Prime Minister Robert Abela announced during a Cabinet meeting held at the complex.

With this pilot project, instead of going to the Emergency Department at Mater dei Hospital, the elderly, both from the residence and from the community, can go to St Vincent de Paul for treatment, the PM said. This system is going to change healthcare for the elderly as we know it he said and added that after their treatment, they can go back home.

Abela said that “this is another example of specialized help and treatment for the elderly who live in the community. The government remains dedicated to keeping up the highest standards in the sector of the elderly not only in the form of services but also regarding their quality of life and dignity that they deserve.”

Abela mentioned other projects that were made possible in St Vincent de Paul such as the ward modernization, new medical apparatus and a garden specially for patients with dementia. He also mentioned projects for the elderly outside of St Vincent de Paul such as the imminent completion of a care home in Floriana and the issuing of a tender for a care home in Bormla.

The PM said how the government also strived to keep the minds of the elderly at peace by subsidizing energy prices, price stability of essential products, increasing the medicines in the national formulary and increasing pensions all the while keeping the cost of living stable and  not introducing new taxes.

The PM addressed cabinet on this matter in the presence of the residents of St Vincent de Paul on the second anniversary of his legislature.

Before the meeting, the PM visited the complex where an extensive rehabilitation project is taking place.

Structural alterations are being carried as part of a modernisation project that is under way.

The Prime Minister was accompanied by Health Minister Jo Etienne Abela.