“Fire highlights plight of aged”
The disastrous boarding house fire in Wellington on Saturday in which five men died and three were reported seriously injured was a tragic reminder of the plight of the many lonely elderly and highlighted a situation which must not be allowed to continue in a country whose Government so often claimed that priority was being given to the care of the aged, the member of Parliament for Lyttelton (Mr T. M. McGuigan) said in a statement yesterday.
“Only a few days ago the secretary of the Canterbury Rest Homes Association (Mrs A. R. McLachlan) expressed her concern at the increasing number of elderly people who. were being forced into unlicensed convalescent homes. In doing so she drew attention to what has becbme a dark and ever expanding blot in New Zealand’s social welfare system.
‘‘Perhaps Saturday’s tragedy will bring under public scrutiny the position of thousands of our elderly citizens who, although not sufficiently infirm for admission to convalescent homes, through age and other circumstances are compelled to find accomomdation in lodging and boarding houses where they often have to spend the last years of their lives sharing rooms with others. It is just not good enough,” Mr McGuigan said.
“New Zealand’s record in providing public accommodation for the aged is pitiful. Not one additional public institutional bed has been provided in Christchurch during the last eight years. The task has been left entirely to religious and charitable organisations which more often than
not have to battle unceasingly with the Government for urgently needed subsidies to buffd and maintain vjtal accommodation. They cannot bridge the gap. “The responsibility for housing the aged cannot and should not be left entirely to the volunteer groups. The Government must act in this field and without delay. "It is deplorable that trag-
edies are necessary to bring to public attention what is a real social problem," he said.
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Bibliographic details
Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32788, 13 December 1971, Page 18
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319“Fire highlights plight of aged” Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32788, 13 December 1971, Page 18
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