We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) parliamentarian Natasha Singh-Lewis has accused Minister of Human Services and Social Security, Dr Vindhya Persaud of failing to address longstanding management problems at the Palms Geriatric Home, saying that the minister’s own remarks during a visit on Wednesday exposed systemic deficiencies for which she bears responsibility.
The criticism follows the circulation of a video on social media showing Persaud inspecting the institution and questioning staff about patient care, medical records and nursing practices.
During the visit, the minister instructed staff to ensure patients’ medical records were properly maintained.
“You must have your charts written up. You must have your medication. You must have a plan. Let me see one, please. So you got to write notes, how you find the patient,” Persaud told staff.
She also questioned whether nurses were assisting residents with mobility challenges.
“Matron, the nurses don’t assist the patients to go to the washroom if they can’t walk properly and they have any imbalances? Does it happen there though?” she asked before requesting that the nurses in charge of Ward A report to her.
Persaud also queried the frequency of hospital visits by residents and instructed staff to improve the monitoring of diabetic patients.
“You need to fix the blood glucose, the RBS (Random Blood Sugar). Do a fasting, at least a fasting in the morning. That tells you how your patient control is,” she said.
Responding yesterday to questions from Kiskadee Watch, Singh-Lewis said the minister appeared to misunderstand her role during the visit.
“I believe that the Minister did not quite understand her role in visiting the institution and, in my opinion, she was not there as the institution’s medical doctor but as the policymaker who is responsible for the systemic failure of the institution over the last six years,” she said.
According to Singh-Lewis, Persaud’s comments about patient care and record-keeping raised legitimate questions about the effectiveness of the ministry’s oversight of the state-run home.
“The Minister’s own comments on patient care and patient records raised legitimate questions about the effectiveness of oversight at the Palms,” she said, adding that she had repeatedly raised concerns about the facility’s management during the 2024, 2025 and 2026 budget debates.
“What we saw in the media coming out of the visit yesterday was the deplorable standards existing for a geriatric home, something that the Minister herself is aware of for the past six years.”
Singh-Lewis stated that Persaud had shifted responsibility to frontline healthcare workers instead of addressing what she described as broader management failures.
“The Minister resorted to blaming the healthcare professionals at the institution instead of paying attention to the system that is deteriorating rapidly under her leadership and she should be held accountable for it,” she said.
She also contended that frequent changes in senior management within the ministry had contributed to administrative instability.
“The deteriorating standards at the Palms Geriatric Home is as a result of loss of experienced technical staff and a reliance heavily on new contracted employees which results in weak administrative oversight and very poor management.”
Referring to the 2024 national budget, Singh-Lewis said she had called for rehabilitation and modernisation of the facility despite the approval of $172 million for the construction of a new geriatric facility at Enmore.
“Now more than two years [later] we are still dealing with a dilapidated facility whereby a patient fell through and was hospitalised and subsequently died,” she said, referring to the death of resident David Trahaine. Seventy-year-old Trahaine died in late 2025 after falling through a neglected section of the facility’s infrastructure
The WIN parliamentarian called for “a comprehensive audit of the social services programme, particularly the services that cater for our senior citizens, pensions and the facilities that bring relief for them.”
She further stated that the problems at the Palms reflected wider shortcomings within the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security.
“The systemic failures of the various agencies under the ministry are a reflection of a bigger issue which is incompetence at the leadership level of the ministry, which results in management failures that cause our senior citizens to suffer unduly in their golden years under the PPP government,” she said.
On its Facebook page, the Ministry of Human Services described the Ministerโs visit on Wednesday as follows:
โ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐จ๐๐ฌ๐งโ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐๐ข๐ญ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐ซ๐๐ฉ๐จ๐ซ๐ญ๐ฌ. ๐๐ก๐ ๐ ๐จ๐๐ฌ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฌ๐๐ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐ก๐๐ซ๐ฌ๐๐ฅ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ ๐๐๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ญ๐๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ญ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ ๐ซ๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐. ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฐ๐ก๐๐ง ๐ข๐ญ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐๐ฌ ๐ญ๐จ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐๐ฅ๐๐๐ซ๐ฅ๐ฒ, ๐ฌ๐ก๐ ๐ข๐ง๐ฌ๐ฉ๐๐๐ญ๐ฌ, ๐๐ข๐ซ๐๐๐ญ๐ฌ, ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ง๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ซ๐๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐ฒ๐จ๐ง๐ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ก๐๐ฅ๐ ๐๐๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ญ๐๐๐ฅ๐.โ
It said that rather than relying on reports, the Minister went directly onto the wards where she examined nurses’ charts, medication records and nutrition schedules to ensure residents are receiving their medication on time, being properly fed and cared for. The ministry said that the visit also gave her the opportunity to identify areas that require immediate attention and assess how daily operations are being carried out.
The ministry said that Persaud firmly charged the nursing staff to ensure every resident is kept clean, treated with dignity, fed on schedule, and closely monitored to prevent accidents or any form of neglect.
It said that she also met with the administration and made it clear that there must be stronger supervision throughout the Home. Routine checks on the wards are expected, and contractors and labourers responsible for maintaining the compound will be held accountable for ensuring the surroundings are clean, safe and suitable for the residents.
โThe Minister reminded staff that while the Ministry provides oversight and sets the standard, the day-to-day care and management of the Palms rest with the officers and administration on the ground. The quality of care residents receive is a direct reflection of the work carried out each day, and every member of staff has a responsibility to perform their duties professionallyโ, the ministry added.
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