The decision to bypass war veterans and pay their pensions directly to nursing homes has been faulted as a cutback targeting an especially undeserving group.

Carol Everson, a welfare case worker for the Bermuda Legion, conceded that reductions might be unavoidable for a cash-strapped government.

However, she said such moves should be countered with an investment in rest home facilities. Ms Everson was responding to an article in The Royal Gazette revealing that, as of April 1, veterans in care facilities would no longer receive their $800 monthly pension cheque.

Instead, the money will be used to offset Government’s allowance to rest homes — a move that would save Government about $250,000 in the coming year.

The news broke on the same day that Economic Development Minister Grant Gibbons revealed that Government had paid out $52.9 million to veterans over the past eight years. Ms Everson said the schedule of pensions and benefits for Bermuda’s Second World War veterans and their families had never been increased since it began in June 2007.

“This particular group of Bermudians made a unique contribution not just to their country, but also to world history. Now approaching their nineties, it is unfortunate that these particular Bermudians have succumbed to a cutback in their Government benefits, especially as most of them waited over 60 years for official recognition. If a cut is unavoidable, this particular example does make some fiscal sense; it is in keeping with legislation in other Commonwealth countries, where pensioners contribute from their statutory benefits on a sliding scale toward their residential care.

“But for the change in legislation to have credibility, there has to be appropriate provision for seniors’ care in residential facilities and an adequate support structure for seniors being cared for at home.”

Ms Everson said veterans came from a wide diversity of backgrounds, making their predicament representative of the challenges facing Bermuda’s elderly population as a whole. If 40 per cent of the 200 war veterans and widows were to require immediate care, then at least three homes with qualified staff would be needed to accommodate them.

Neither of the Government-run nursing homes, Lefroy House and the Sylvia Richardson Care Facility, had spare places, she said.

Those institutions were the only ones that could take in patients with Alzheimers and dementia, outside of the Westmeath Home which could cost $11,000 to $13,000 a month.

“Lefroy House was damaged by the hurricanes last October,” Ms Everson said. “There is no timeline from Works and Engineering to start or complete the repairs, and as a result eight beds are not accessible. There are no vacancies at Sylvia Richardson Care Facility, and there are still 13 patients in the Continuing Care Unit at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital waiting for placement.”

She said the National Office for Seniors had yet to prove that it could respond effectively to complaints of poor care in nursing homes.

Ms Everson “respectfully noted” that the government wished to limit the financial impact on veterans by diverting their pensions to care facilities. “If this group must feel the pain of a cutback, it is imperative that the government take a fresh look at every opportunity for improving residential and home care in the community,” she added.