GPHC joins Social Protection to investigate abuse of the elderly by relatives

Jan 23, 2020 News

The Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) will now be collaborating with the Ministry of Social Protection to investigate cases of elderly patients complaining of being abused by their relatives.

Picture of the city hospital

A senior official reported that the patients complained of being abused at home.
In a recent interview, the official stated that they would relate their problems to nurses about the treated meted out to them by their loved ones.
As a result of the ill-treatment, when discharged from the GPHC the majority of the elderly persons would refuse to go back to their respective homes, the official disclosed.
Kaieteur News understands that between November 9, 2019 and January 15, last, 30 patients between the ages of 65 and72 lodged complaints with nurses.
The official stated, “There are some mean people out there, people who would not think twice about beating someone who is twice or thrice their own age.
“And it doesn’t necessarily have to be a stranger because from my years of working at this hospital, I have worked along with elderly patients that have been beaten so badly by their own relatives. Pain did not kill them; grief did,” the official further stated.
According to sources, when such cases of abuse are reported to the city hospital’s complaints department, officials from the Ministry of Social Protection would be contacted to launch an investigation. A report is also lodged at a police station.
If it is found that the allegation is true, the elderly person will be removed from that home and temporally placed in a senior citizens’ home until another relative comes forward to take care of them.
“From the moment you cannot walk or provide for yourself, nobody wants you and that is bad. As the younger or upcoming generation, we have to instill in ourselves an attitude of caring for the elderly in our society because they are the ones who know a great deal about what was before us.”