Nursing homes are running out of space as more elderly Fijians are being neglected by their families and abandoned at hospitals, and calls are being made for the Government to build more aged-care facilities.
While speaking to fijivillage News, Valelevu HART Home staff matron Sereima Rabi says the home currently has 26 residents and is running out of space, while continuing to receive requests from families seeking care for their elderly parents.
She says they have been receiving calls for weeks and months about elderly patients who are ready to be discharged from hospital, but whose families cannot be reached or fail to come and pick them up.
The staff matron says it is heartbreaking to see what is happening to senior citizens, as many residents in the home miss their families, feel lonely and receive little or no contact from their loved ones.
Rabi adds that some residents have been living at the home for up to 10 years, while others have only recently arrived, and the facility also cares for people with disabilities, dementia, stroke-related conditions and those who are bedridden.
The matron says there are many elderly people living on the streets as well.
She says they have seen an increase in the number of elderly people being placed in nursing homes, which she attributes largely to family neglect, adding that some elderly parents are being mistreated or abandoned by their own children and relatives.
INSERT: Rabi on lifestyle 30 may
The matron says they are expanding the HART Nursing Home to accommodate more people but that is going to take about three months so they have been referring them to other homes but they are also running out of space.
Rabi is pleading with families to look after their elderly as most of the nursing homes are completely occupied.
