“The present situation of social cases, with irresponsible families dumping elderly people at Mater Dei Hospital, cannot continue,” said Parliamentary Secretary for the Elderly and Community Care Mario Galea, yesterday.

While some people dedicate a lot of time and energy for the care of elderly family members, he added, others are “choosing to escape their responsibility”. This is “a criminal act”, as an effect of which operations are being cancelled, he said.

Government services are there to support families and not substitute them, Mr Galea added, while giving statistics that highlight the extent of the problem.

Mr Galea was speaking at the launch of the European Health Interview Survey which focused on the health status of the elderly.

Some 1,000 people had to be transferred to state residences after receiving medical treatment at Mater Dei Hospital last year. In 2008, the figure was 1,083. Meanwhile over 100 people were recorded to have ‘overstayed’ at Mater Dei Hospital in the first month of this year even though they did not need acute care and had been discharged by their consultants.

Mater Dei Hospital was being “suffocated” by these long-term cases, Mr Galea said.

Meanwhile, Mr Galea noted that Malta has one of the best life expectancy rates in Europe – a reflection of our quality life and care. Nearly 60,000 Maltese people or 14 per cent of our population are persons over 65 years. In ten years’ time, the figure is expected to shoot up by 11,000.

The matter needs a lot of forward planning since health problems associated with old age; such as cataracts, knee and hip replacements, will increase as the elderly population grows. Mr Galea referred to complaints on waiting lists and long waiting times at casualty, explaining that elderly people are those mostly in need of care.

Moreover, he said that new hospital wards and residences for the elderly must be dementia friendly, so that people admitted to a home suffering from certain medical conditions, and developing the mental illness later on in life, would not have to be transferred to other wards.

Mr Galea also described as “critical” the lack of human resources including nurses and carers.

“The Pope John Paul II new wing at St Vincent de Paul residence is ready to open this evening if four nurses could be deployed,” Mr Galea said.

He also explained that three training courses for carers have taken place along the past months and the 180 people trained have all been employed at St Vincent de Paul, Mount Carmel Hospital, clinics, and private residences or hospitals.

The Health Status survey – dubbed a photograph of the actual state of our health, showed that 47 per cent of the elderly Maltese population report they are in good health, while another 8.3 per cent report very good health.

Overall, 60 per cent of the elderly population reported suffering from a long term illness or health problem and women consistently achieve higher rates in all age groups. Women are also severely limited by their health problems in all age groups.

High blood pressure is the top reported health condition; in fact, 46 per cent of the elderly population report suffering from the condition. Meanwhile, 40 per cent of the population suffers from arthritis, 27 per cent suffers from back and neck pain, 20 per cent is diagnosed with diabetes and 18 per cent reported mental health problems.

Medication to reduce high blood pressure was the most consumed (by 39 per cent of the population).

As age increases, many report difficulty in reading fine newspaper print, managing self-care tasks and maintaining the home environment.

Notwithstanding, 83 per cent of the elderly population consume fruit while 56 per cent of the population consume vegetables at least once a day. Alcohol consumption and smoking rates are low among the elderly.

According to hospital data, 53 per cent of those aged 85 years and over were admitted to hospital in 2008.

Generally, care service use is low among the elderly population and only 11 per cent reported making use of at least one community care service. Home help service use was the most common.