Abandoned elderly at hospital could make shelter home

Eleven of the 32 elderly people abandoned at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) could be headed to the shelter for the homeless.

President of the Barbados Alliance to End Homelessness (BAEH) Kemar Saffrey had announced last Friday that his non-governmental organisation (NGO) was willing to accept people abandoned at the hospital’s Accident and Emergency Department (AED) into its Spry Street, Bridgetown shelter.

While QEH executive chairman Juliette Bynoe-Sutherland told Barbados TODAY the vast majority of these elderly folk are unablego to the shelter because they are frail and require 24-hour care at a geriatric or nursing home facility, she said the hospital has reviewed Saffrey’s proposal and now has to look for the resources to turn the offer into a reality.

She said a team from QEH’s Bed Management and Social Work Department toured the shelter and examined the programmes offered, and also received feedback from BAEH’s clients and volunteers.

“It’s an impressive programme built around sustainability and transition from the streets, with strong social work practices. The team was impressed. Many of our elderly do need medical and nursing care but are not as able to benefit from the shelter, but quite a few could benefit from the beds and transition programmes on offer by the Alliance,” Bynoe-Sutherland said.

“To be honest, we need all the help we can get, as the people waiting in AED and for surgeries are disadvantaged by having a ward and a half taken up with long term guests.”

The QEH boss noted that hospitals globally are grappling with issues of elderly care, and seeking community beds is a best practice because of how cost-effective it is to support people in the community rather than in costly hospital beds.

She said elderly persons being left at the hospital although they have been discharged is also a quality of life issue, as most have limited stimulation since the QEH does not provide gerontology support.

“We reached out to the Alliance for a proposal, as they can cover a subset of our needs. We are pleased that the Government is building modern geriatric facilities. We also think there is a need to increase the allocation to the Ministry of Health Alternative Care of the Elderly Programme which funds private nursing homes. Our QEH Community Outreach Programme will go a long way to providing families with help to care for persons at home by doing home visits.

“But I also recognise that many people who leave persons at the QEH are not diabolical and uncaring. Some are, but most are not. They simply cannot cope with the progression of illness. Caring for the elderly at home is unpaid work and women often shoulder the burden of care for the elderly without pay, often out of love or affinity. So comprehensive solutions are needed to support home-based carers. They need respite centres to provide a week or weekend off to exhausted carers. More day care centres can be run by churches, NGOs, and volunteers. If people are able to cope better with the needs of their elderly in the community, it will relieve the role of the hospital to provide housing,” the executive chairman added. (anestahenry@barbadostoday.bb)