Is it time Albuquerque and Ramos get their priorities straight. ?
José Manuel Rodrigues stresses that 230 elderly people, already discharged, but without a place to go, is a problem that is not new.
José Manuel Rodrigues, president of the Legislative Assembly of Madeira, expressed, this afternoon at the inauguration of the social bodies of the Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Machico, “his great concern regarding the current situation experienced in the Emergency Service of the Dr. Nélio Mendonça Hospital”, according to a press release released, reacting to the news reported by DIÁRIO.
“There are 230 elderly people who have already been discharged from hospital, but who have no place to go, and are occupying a hospital bed,” he specifies. “This is a problem that is not new, but it is becoming more acute now, when there is a greater peak in the number of patients caused by the combination of typical illnesses of the time and the emergency departments at the Nélio Mendonça Hospital,” he points out. And he adds: “There is a need for new hospitalizations and there are not enough beds in the hospital. Not to mention the huge waiting list that we still have today, around a thousand people are waiting to be admitted to a nursing home in our Region.”
Therefore, the President of the Legislative Assembly of Madeira “appealed to families who can have their elderly at home to go and collect them from the Dr. Nélio Mendonça Hospital”, acknowledging that “it is clear that there are families who, for socioeconomic reasons and their working conditions, have enormous difficulty in keeping their elderly at home, as many of them require medical and nursing care”. However, José Manuel Rodrigues stated, “there are other families who have this possibility, and they have the obligation to provide this care to their elderly who are in hospital, who have already been discharged and only need a helping hand to return to their original homes and their families”, he criticises.
For José Manuel Rodrigues, regarding the issue of support from the Region and the State for institutions such as the Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Machico, “it is time to start reviewing the existing cooperation agreements”, this “because what they receive is not enough for them to have a normal life and to be able to develop their projects. We will need new public social security policies in Madeira, especially support for solidarity institutions”, he argued.
Regarding the Santa Casa de Misericórdia de Machico, he highlighted that “it is an institution that provides important services in supporting the elderly, helping those who are isolated and living in a context of loneliness, the poorest, the weakest, the disabled, those excluded from society, and supporting the children and youth of Machico”. He therefore believes that “the social development of this municipality would not be the same if this institution did not exist, especially because we are faced today with an enormous challenge, the aging of the population. The progress we have made in the last 50 years in terms of increasing average life expectancy is remarkable, however, this poses very great demands and high financial costs”, he acknowledges.
In a note, the President of the Legislative Assembly also remembered Zita Cardoso, “professor, researcher and businesswoman who presided over several business, sports and cultural institutions”, stressing that “with her research, published in several books, she contributed to the promotion of the history of Madeira and to increasing curiosity about the municipality of Machico, where she was born”, he concluded.