Elderly advocate and Shadow Health & Family Services Minister Louise Jackson believes that ultimately the buck stops at the Government when it comes to issues of neglect at Pembroke Rest Home.

Allegations of neglect at the rest home have been highlighted in two recent articles.

On November 4 the reported that residents had festering bed sores, a cook that smoked and staff that neglected them.

On Friday, reported that the rest home?s staff had penned a letter categorically denying allegations of neglect and criticising the Pembroke Parish Council for not sticking up for the staff. The staff said the residents of the rest home were never neglected despite the staff being poorly paid and lacking necessary resources.

But yesterday Mrs. Jackson maintained that there were instances of neglect at the rest home.

She said the woman who received necrotic sacral (bed sores) was not at the hospital, as the staff claimed, when she received the sores. She also said that another resident had to be treated for dehydration due to neglect.

?I sympathise with the staff,? Mrs. Jackson said. ?I think obviously the wages are low and what they are saying about lacking resources is quite true, but it still has nothing to do with quality of care they provide.?

She said the main issue is that the Ministry of Health is not concerned about elderly people. On Friday at the House of Assembly, Mrs. Jackson asked the Minister of Health, Patrice Minors, if anyone had been to inspect the residence and got no reply.

?From the very first day [November 4 that she heard there were allegations of neglect she should have sent someone, some professional, to that facility to inspect it and see what the situation was,? Mrs. Jackson said.

But Assistant Director of the Department of Communications Valerie Pethen denied that Government is ignoring the allegations.

She was not aware of anyone physically going to the facility but said: ?The Ministry of Health has certainly not ignored the care of the residents at the Pembroke Rest Home and they are following up on the allegations.?

Mrs. Jackson said Government desperately needs to table new legislation regarding the Island?s rest homes and nursing homes.

The current legislation which was updated in 2001 is 13 pages long, she said, adding that it barely touches on a lot of issues regarding neglect.

Comparatively, Mrs. Jackson said the US state Oregon currently has 98 pages of legislation regarding rest homes.

?Obviously the Bermuda legislation is not in depth enough,? she said.

More in depth legislation would ensure that the Island?s elderly population receives proper care and that staff are held more accountable, she added.

She said issues that the Pembroke facility face, such as not having a full time administrator and allegations of neglect, would be dealt with if legislation was in place.