One of the things that will prompt expressions of national pride and well wishes from Barbadians is the ever-growing list of centenarians, particularly when they feature in the local media on reaching their milestones.
Indeed, Barbados is regarded as having the highest centenarians per capita.
We are also told that this country is home to the highest percentage of persons aged 65 and over in the English-speaking Caribbean, and we lead the region with more than 10 per cent of our population classified as elderly.
Perhaps this is why it is mind boggling and downright shameful that our health authorities on Wednesday were forced, once again, to highlight what can only be described as a societal illness that continues to fester.
Officials from the Ministry of Health and Wellness, as they updated the nation on the critical issues related to health care, during discussion on the Appropriation Bill, 2022, expressed grave concern about the rate at which elderly persons were being abandoned at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH).
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health and Wellness Janet Philips said repeated appeals for Barbadians to stop leaving their elderly family members stranded have fallen on deaf ears.
“These people are being left in the QEH and not being collected by their relatives, and then the burden falls on the persons at the hospital to then manage them as well as critical care persons. It’s an issue we have been trying to grapple with, whilst dealing with the issue of COVID,” Philips explained.
“That, in itself, is still a challenge for the QEH and on a daily basis we get the reports of persons who have been left, and they are clogging up the spaces, not only in Accident & Emergency but they are also taking up valuable bed space that is needed for critical care patients.”
Certainly, it is not a new issue but it is appalling and embarrassing that we are still here.
We are aware of the Alternative Care of the Elderly Programme under which private nursing homes are paid by Government to look after elderly people.
We note, too, as outlined by Phillips, that the former St Lucy District Hospital is being used to house senior citizens left at the QEH until spaces are found in the geriatric system, as well as the plans to transform the Elayne Scantlebury Centre in River Bay, St Lucy for geriatric care. And then there’s the proposed construction of a new Geriatric Hospital at the Botanical Gardens.
But, clearly, this matter cannot be left solely to Government to fix, given our aging population.
That people are leaving elderly relatives at hospitals when they need social care rather than health treatment is distasteful.
Far too many of our elderly folk are alone, hungry and, worst, vulnerable to abuse.
This is unacceptable for the generation that built modern Barbados by their blood, sweat and tears. And the problem appears so now entrenched that a decisive effort is needed to tackle this scourge.
Perhaps the time has come for families to be held accountable for the care of their elders.
While we are aware that some families genuinely cannot provide for their elder relatives, neglecting and abandoning them is not the answer. Situations like these should be settled with forthright discussions between those families and authorities.
But those relatives who discard their elders because they are an inconvenience, while profiting from their pensions, houses, and land, should be held liable.
Perhaps it could help to have legislation mandating that families who can take responsibility for their elderly, do so, though we shouldn’t have to resort to the strong arm of the law to address this issue. Still, if there were significant repercussions then some people may think twice.
We need an urgent shift where more emphasis is placed on the respect and care of our seniors.
They are, indeed, national treasures and should enjoy their final days in dignity and comfort. No one stays young forever. If we truly are the caring society we say we are, we need to take care of our seniors.
The great Mahatma Gandhi once said that “the true measure of any society can be found in how it treats its most vulnerable members”.
Considering Barbados’ growing elderly population, families and institutions must step up to the plate and provide quality elderly care. We can’t afford to do any less.
