A 98-year-old widow suffering from dementia and diabetes who lives alone in her rundown family home has been ruled ineligible for Financial Assistance by Government.Mrs O is in desperate need of round-the-clock care but because she has a “life interest” in the single-storey property meaning she can live there until she dies she cannot get any help from the state.The frail and incontinent old lady, who was recently found wandering around her yard in the middle of the night in a diaper and vest, has no relatives willing to look after her and is not thought to have any savings or other assets.She is incapable of putting herself to bed, so sits for 24 hours each day in a dining chair in her kitchen.The only human contact she has is with a former employer, Ms H, who lives close by, and representatives from an organisation called Preferred Choice Home Care, who have been employed by Ms H to visit her for three hours a day and prepare meals, at a cost of $2,680 a month.Ms H, 60, who is no relation to Mrs O, is herself suffering from a serious illness which requires costly medical care overseas.She has been trying for months to get Mrs O a place in a care home but has been told by Government she will need to find more than $5,000 a month if a bed becomes available money she doesn’t have.The other option, according to the National Office for Seniors and the Physically Challenged (NOSPC), is to simply take Mrs O to King Edward VII Memorial Hospital and leave her there.NOSPC case manager Dennika Williams wrote in an e-mail to Ms H on May 4 this year: “Take her to the hospital and let them know she has an issue with her leg and she cannot return home because she resides alone, cannot care for herself and you are going abroad for treatment. They will have to keep her and form a careplan for her.”Ms H told The Royal Gazette that wasn’t something she was prepared to do.“I couldn’t do that to the lady. It’s inhumane to treat somebody like that,” she said. “Even after they have been put somewhere they still need care. They still need looking after. They can’t just be dumped somewhere. Somebody has to be responsible.”She said she no longer knew where to turn for help after repeatedly asking Government officials to step in and assist Mrs O since March this year.“What are they getting paid for?” she asked. “It just floors me. I went from one person to the next. What kind of salaries are these people on? All these staff and not one of them could do anything for her.”She added: “I’m responsible for her, I guess, because there is no one else. She used to be our nanny 65 years ago. She was with the family before I arrived, then she looked after my children. As time has progressed, I have taken on the responsibility for her.”Ms H said she could not keep paying for Mrs O’s care but there were no family members “in the picture”, including the great-nephew who is believed to own the house where she lives.“I wouldn’t ask for help if I didn’t need it,” said Ms H. “I can’t continue with it. I’m not working. I’m ill. I have got medical bills now. As much as I’d love to and want to, I can’t. It’s $24 for a pack of diapers, which doesn’t last a week. It’s costly.”This newspaper visited the senior with Ms H and found her shivering beneath a blanket on the dining chair where she sleeps every night, an incontinence pad tucked beneath her.The dilapidated house, which belonged to Mrs O’s parents, has rotten floorboards in three rooms and has not been adapted for someone with physical challenges.Most of the rooms are heaving with possessions but appear not to be in use, including the living room, which is packed with scores of framed photographs of loved ones.Since the episode in the yard, Ms H has taken to double bolting the back door to stop Mrs H going outside. She has also put a padlock around the fridge/freezer in the kitchen because her elderly friend was eating the entire contents in one sitting if left to her own devices.Mrs O’s legs are swollen and covered in sores because she never gets to lie down. She has poor eyesight and hearing, suffers from urinary tract infections and cannot cook or dress herself.“She’s sitting in a wet diaper all day,” said Ms H. “Her dementia is fairly severe. She can’t stay there at this moment with me locking her in there and locking the fridge. She just can’t stay there.”This newspaper put a series of questions about Mrs O to the Ministry of Health, which is responsible for the NOSPC, and the Ministry of Youth, Families and Sports, which is responsible for the Department of Financial Assistance.A Government spokeswoman responded: “The Ministry of Health’s case workers have been in touch with either Mrs O, her relatives or her caregivers every month since March 2011 and the Department of Health has provided all the assistance possible.“Because Mrs O has a life interest in the property at which she lives, she is not eligible for Financial Assistance.”Advised that the response did not answer all of the questions, the spokeswoman said Government had nothing further to add.Mrs O’s plight was brought to the attention of this newspaper by One Bermuda Alliance MP Louise Jackson, who said the case brought “shame on Government”.The party’s spokeswoman on seniors claimed yesterday: “Government departments, the National Office for Seniors and the Department of Financial Assistance have each failed to care for Mrs O, despite the obvious need to do so.“The National Office advised a friend to take her to the hospital and leave her advice that was not acceptable to the friend. Think about it: stray dogs are picked up, taken to the SPCA and cared for!”Mrs Jackson continued: “The National Office for Seniors, with Age Concern, has circulated a brochure on senior abuse in which it defines psychological abuse as ignoring the senior and/or isolating a senior from family, friends or regular activities.“The Ministry of Health, which says it visits her once a month, has seen her desperate state and yet leaves her on her own from month to month.“All Government departments have seen Mrs O living in a house that is in disrepair. They are aware of her dementia, which sees her wandering in the neighbourhood. They know she cannot shop or cook for herself.“They know she would not have food if a friend did not provide it for her. They know that she sits in a chair on an incontinence pad 24 hours a day and never lies down. They know she cannot bathe herself.“Yet this Government states that it visits her once a month and that that is good enough.”The MP said Financial Assistance would enable Mrs O to be placed in the residential care she needed.“How could they walk in that house, see her condition and leave her?” she asked. “How do they sleep at night?“The Senior Abuse Register Act does not seem to cover Mrs O’s predicament. The OBA would amend this Act to ensure seniors in their own homes are protected. We would initiate legislation and policies for a Public Guardian of Incapacitated Adults, the equivalent of child protection.”l The Royal Gazette has opted not to print the names of Mrs O and Ms H in order to protect the privacy of Mrs O.