Elderly people residing at St Vincent de Paul Home for the Elderly are being locked up because of the government’s incompetence, the Nationalist Party said in a statement.

After an elderly person vanished from the residence and has still not been found, and another elderly person fell off a balcony, the only solution that the government found was to keep the residents locked up, the PN< through its spokespersons Paula Mifsud Bonnici and Ivan Castillo, said.

No one can leave the room or wards, use the stairs or lifts unless accompanied, the PN said.

The elderly residents at the home are not being treated with dignity. They deserve to live in a secure environment but with the right to enjoy a good quality of life.

This directive is putting extra pressure on the nurses, whose job is not to serve as guardians, but to give the best care to the residents. This is not possible because of a shortage of nurses, the PN said.

Appeals made by the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses have fallen on deaf ears, because neither the Ministry of Health nor the Ministry for Active Ageing has lifted a finger to correct the situation, the PN said.