Referring to media reports that a recently-deceased resident of St Vincent de Paul had been buried without the home informing the person’s relatives, Family Minister Michael Farrugia told this newspaper: “One has to respect the declared wishes the patient made a long time before he passed away.”

In other words, Dr Farrugia is saying that it is not a case of the deceased person’s relatives not being advised of his death by SVPR due to negligence but rather that the former resident himself is understood to have only wanted certain people informed by SVPR in the event of his death.

“If a patient puts down his wishes in writing, one has to respect that,” Dr Farrugia, a medical doctor by profession, said during an interview being published in tomorrow’s issue of The Malta Independent.

He insists that the proper procedures used when a patient dies at SVPR were, in fact, followed to the letter.

In a statement issued after this newsroom interviewed Dr Farrugia, the management of St Vincent de Paul said that an investigation into alleged irregularities in the way an elderly resident was buried revealed no breach of procedures.

In a statement, the home’s administration said that the procedures in place establish that the residence is obliged to inform the next-of-kin in accordance with an application residents are required to complete.

The procedures had been followed to the letter in this case, said the home, as the people indicated in the document pertaining to the resident in question had been informed about his death.

One of the people listed had organised the funeral, the home said. 

Elderly abuse being treated seriously – Farrugia

As for abuse of the elderly, Dr Farrugia said: “We call in the police each time an alleged case of abuse surfaces.

“We have recently introduced a law whereby abuse of elderly people is now considered an aggravated crime and this applies to whoever is involved – irrespective of whether they are family, professional carers, etc. It could be the case where someone neglects an elderly person or forces him or her to sign a contract against his or her will.

“People who are found guilty of such crimes can face a prison sentence”, Dr Farrugia said, “which means that we are treating such cases seriously.”

Read the full interview with Dr Farrugia in The Malta Independent tomorrow