recommendations going before the Government this week.

Consultants brought in to work with the relevant agencies and carry out a survey on the needs of the Island's senior citizens has been completed and presented to the Ministry of Health and Family Services.

Among the findings is the poor state of Bermuda's five parish residential homes, which all need extensive refurbishment running to hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Cash will have to be injected into the homes to bring them back up to standard and a comprehensive improvement programme phased in during the coming months.

Among the recommendations to be put to the Cabinet this week is the need for greater home-based care, which will enable old people to stay in their homes longer and remain independent.

That will entail the setting up of an assessment team to go out and look at the specific needs of the elderly with regards health, finance and accommodation.

And it will also mean the re-designing of King Edward VII Memorial Hospital's extended care unit to ensure pensioners are re-habilitated as soon as possible after recovering from an illness and placed back into their homes.

If the recommendations are passed by Cabinet, health insurance schemes will come under greater review, with the Government and insurance companies attempting to forge new deals with overseas hospitals.

Also on the cards could be additional support for stroke victims and their families; extra nurses to work with the elderly both in the community and in hospitals; and comprehensive surveys carried out of each parish to look at their aging populations and the facilities they specifically need to cater for them.

Health minister Nelson Bascome said he has been reviewing the services of the elderly since he came into office 18 months ago.

He said many of the recommendations were made by Independent Senator Alf Oughton in his report on health care published in 1996.

As a result, the United Bermuda Party contracted the Arthur Anderson Group of consultants to carry out a study on health care before the last election. When Mr. Bascome took over he extended study.

Gov't plans massive overhaul of elder care He said last night that if the recommendations were given the go-ahead, major changes would begin to happen in a matter of months.

He said: "One of the things I realised when I came into office was that there was a shortage of resources for our seniors.

"In 1999 we set up a steering committee, involving outside agencies and the Arthur Anderson Group of consultants, to look at ways in which services to old people could be enhanced.

"We have an aging population, therefore we need to look at the services we provide to our elderly.'' He said what he had been able to glean from the report so far was that there needed to be a great deal more home care provided in the community.

And he said services provided by the different agencies needed to be overhauled to prevent duplication, which is a current problem.

He added: "We have realised that a lot of people who needed health care in the past did not need to be hospitalised.

They could easily have been dealt with by a doctor at his surgery or at home.

"There needs to be a lot more screening of our elderly and risk assessments carried out to see what particular services would be appropriate to them.

"Every person is different and therefore their needs are also different.

"At the moment we are not looking closely enough at individual situations.

"That will change and there will be a great deal more support.'' Mr. Bascome said improving the residential homes will be expensive, but boosting other community-based services will not as savings could be made by greater efficiency.

One project already agreed and promoted by the Government is the setting up of a new centre in the central parishes that will include all the major agencies that act on behalf of the elderly, including charities such as Age Concern.

Engineers are looking for a suitable site for the one stop shop centre, but Mr. Bascome hopes it will be operational by the end of the year.

Mr. Bascome added: "The senior centre will co-ordinate all the services they need, so, instead of them having to visit a pensions office, and then a housing office, and so on, it will all be in the same place.

"It will be there to provide social and financial assistance.'' Also coming up for discussion this week are a number of plans drawn up by the Works and Engineering Department for a new multi-functional home for the elderly in St Georges.

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