A concerned son of an elderly home resident was left with “no alternative” but to take to social media to express his discontent with the facility and staff of the home after his requests to show special attention to his father went unanswered, he claims.

Godwin Schembri already lost his mother, who was a resident at Residenza San Guzepp, something he claimed was a result of the management which “could not contain the spread of the virus, a good four weeks after the first case,” in a Facebook post.

Now, the desperate son is appealing for the elderly home to show special attention to his dad, so that he doesn’t suffer the same fate.

“I have no alternative but to write this post as I have been trying for many days to receive news about my dad who is a resident,” he said in a since-deleted post.

“Now after the loss of my mum, my dad needs special attention, but requests remain mostly unanswered.”

Schembri asked for a doctor to visit his father, for staff to clear his room of his late mother’s belongings and to give him daily “informed updates” about his condition, so as to achieve some peace of mind.

However, Schembri claims that these requests aren’t being adhered to and his father is instead confined to his room “with no opportunity to walk out, even if just briefly in the corridor.”

He claims that they won’t even deliver the newspaper to his room or even allow him to communicate with his father via Skype.

“All of these things continue to happen even after you assure us that action will be taken. These residents need special care but are currently reporting neglect. You speak about the recovery rates but you have not spoken about the new cases and the deaths that occurred due to the COVID spread in your home,” he said.

Residenza San Guzepp has been posting periodic updates on the number of COVID-19 recoveries in the home but has chosen to omit the number of active cases.

And while Schembri understands that certain measures are in place, which prohibits him from any physical interaction with his dad, he is pleading to the elderly home to increase their efforts.

“I implore you to take immediate action and take care of our loved ones whom we trusted in your care. Instead, your main action has been to keep them behind doors with nobody being held accountable for what is happening there.”

“I would not be resorting to this post if I did not feel as helpless as you have made me feel by now,” he said.

Schembri’s status was also shared on the elderly home’s Facebook page, but it has since been deleted and has barred him from posting further, according to an update he provided on his page. 

Lovin Malta has reached out to Residenza San Guzepp but hasn’t been able to establish contact by the time of publication.

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