Parliamentary secretary for active ageing Justyne Caruana revealed this evening that a total of 63 inspections of private or government-contracted old peoples' homes found a number of shortcomings.
Her comments were made this evening during a parliamentary debate on the introduction of the Homes for Older Persons (Care Quality Standards) Authority Bill. In relation to the shortcomings found in various old peoples' homes, Dr Caruana said that without a regulatory authority, such as the one that was debated this evening, it is not possible to take action on those homes for the elderly.
She added that it would act as a watchdog and oversee that elderly persons are living in dignified conditions in line with quality standards.
Dr Caruana explained that the Authority would provide a legal framework for the day-to-day operations and management of care and nursing homes for the elderly.
"Today, we are walking the talk," she said.
Nationalist Party speaker for social police Paula Mifsud Bonnici cautioned against a clause that would allow MPs, who are not parliamentary secretaries or ministries, to be members of the Authority.
She said that this would open up room for abuse and could create conflicts of interest.
Dr Caruana asked her to substantiate her claim by naming an MP that has the intention of joining the Authority and how that could be an issue. She also said that it is not the relevant Ministry that gives instruction to the Authority, but the other way round.
Mrs Mifsud Bonnici said that she does not need to substantiate her claim because the law allows for this situation to occur.
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