By JADE RUSSELL

Tribune Staff Reporter

jrussell@tribunemedia.net

HEALTH and Wellness Minister Dr Michael Darville has raised renewed concerns over elderly patients being abandoned at hospitals, with loved ones refusing to pick them up.

Dr Darville described the situation as “disturbing”, noting that the traditional practice of caring for one’s family, particularly elderly relatives, is being neglected. He said people are bringing elderly patients to facilities such as Princess Margaret Hospital and Rand Memorial Hospital and simply leaving them behind.

The minister recounted a recent incident in which he had to arrange a charter to a remote island for an elderly patient whose family had abandoned them.

“Someone dropped their loved one and left them and refused to pick them up,” Dr Darville said during a Public Hospital Authority event. “This is now creating an additional burden on the Sandilands Rehabilitation Geriatric Centre and all of the health facilities that exist in the country. We are now finding our elderly in the full responsibility of the state.”

In October 2024, Dr Darville said the government was taking “serious steps” to address elderly care, acknowledging the increasing number of patients being left behind at hospitals. Officials had been coordinating with Social Services and the Sandilands Geriatric Facility to develop strategies that can reduce the burden on public health facilities and ensure the safety and dignity of older residents.

Dr Darville urged the public to recognise the strain on health facilities and the moral responsibility of families to care for their elderly loved ones.