Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/513060
Newspaper post Sex therapist Maria Ali 'Boys will not always be boys' 14-15 hamiltontravel.com.mt MSC MUSICA Group departures between JULY & SEPTEMBER 2015 MSC POESIA VISITING Venice - Bari - Katakolon - Izmir - Istanbul - Dubrovnik Group departures between JULY & SEPTEMBER 2015 VISITING Venice - Bari - Katakolon - Santorini - Piraeus - Corfu - Kotor LAST FEW CABINS AVAILABLE AT FANTASTIC PRICES! GREEK ISLANDS CRUISE ON EASTERN MED CRUISE ON EU to tell Muscat to ban trapping or face court YOUR FIRST READ AND FIRST CLICK OF THE DAY WWW.MALTATODAY.COM.MT maltatoday Inspections reveal elderly get inadequate care in private homes TIM DIACONO THE absence of minimum re- quirements for the care of the elderly has led to inadequate standards for old people in private-public homes and out- sourced 'buying of beds', a damn- ing report by the National Audit Office reveals. Malta spends €56.9 million in state-financed beds for the eld- erly, up from €43 million back in 2011 and faces a waiting list of 2,100 people seeking long-term care because of the absence of community alternatives. But despite outsourcing care of the elderly to private homes, Malta's elderly residents in four private homes received less care time and nursing hours than contractually laid down. Perhaps the most damning finding is that despite the mil- lions in taxpayers' cash paid to finance beds for long-term and high dependency patients in private homes, is that minimum nursing and caring times had fallen well short of contractual obligations. On average, the elderly in homes in Zejtun, Mellieha, Ro- seville Home and Casa Leone had to be given, individually, a minimum of 132 minutes car- ing time on a daily basis, and 24 minutes nursing time daily. The reality is that chronic un- derstaffing and a lack of rigorous enforcement, sometimes even absence of contractual obliga- tions, are resulting in grievous shortfalls. The Mellieha home was found to have given over 80 hours less caring time during three inspec- tions in 2013 and 2014; the Ze- jtun home fell short by 178-202 hours; Roseville home fell short by some 40 hours; and Casa Leone fell short by 35 hours on average. The shortfall in caring and nursing time meant that some high dependence patients were not even receiving the neces- sary care they deserved, despite clear contractual obligations. "It can be argued that the provi- sion of minimum care services entails that, at the very least, all residents are considered as semi- dependent," the NAO said. PRIME Minister Joseph Muscat will be receiving a 'reasoned opinion' from the European Commission, informing him specifically why his decision to reopen the trapping season is in breach of EU law. Commission sources who spoke to Malta- Today said the reasoned opinion was to be communicated within the next weeks. Muscat will be given two months to com- ply with the reasoned opinion, which comes eight months after the government received a formal complaint in October 2014 for opening the season. If the Maltese government refuses to com- ply with the EU, the Commission may ask the Court of Justice to start litigation pro- cedures against Malta. Muscat can be ex- pected to be advised by his legal team not to go to the ECJ over the matter and comply with the request to close the season. Muscat chose to reopen the trapping sea- son despite the season having long been phased out following Malta's accession to the EU. Trapping is prohibited by the Birds Directive. The reopening of the trapping season al- lowed the capture of seven wild songbirds which migrate over Malta in the autumn. The species are the linnet, the greenfinch, the chaffinch, the serin, the goldfinch, the hawfinch and the siskin. Maltese trappers trap finches by using clap nets and live decoy birds. The age-old tradi- tion is practised by over 4,000 individuals. Most of the clap traps are in fact located on public land. The accession negotiations with the Eu- ropean Union determined that Malta could allow for the temporary capture of finches for four years after accession in 2004. This was applicable only for those trappers who had been in possession of a trapping licence. The concession was withdrawn after the 2008 season, when trapping became illegal. CONTINUES PG 3 A POINT OF NO RETURN? Environmental protection in Malta seems to have hit an all-time low, but EDWARD MALLIA says there is still much to fight for PGS 14-15 €1.40 SUNDAY • 17 MAY 2015 • ISSUE 810 • PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY AND SUNDAY CONTINUES PG 12 BREAKING BREAD Evolution of our hobza from the 18th century onwards PAGES 16-17 JULIAN MANDUCA 1958-2005 Journalist, campaigner, friend left us 10 years ago PG 3