It’s difficult to do such a thing. The medical profession is bound by certain ethics which are enforced to maintain patient dignity.

If their relatives “don’t want to take them back” (as though these people are objects), the majority have a perfectly good reason as to why (such as jobs, their families to raise, or the relatives being too old to do the heavy lifting).

Enforcing hospital bills not only sends the message that those incapable of caring for themselves are not worthy of free medical treatment, but will cause relatives to resent them, which may in turn create a problem of depression and other mental illnesses, creating an even bigger burden on the health department’s fees.

Anyway 80% of their pension is revoked after having spent 90 days in a public hospital, be it Mater Dei or SVPR, so in reality, they are paying up themselves.

Maybe respite homes (such as SVPR or KGH) should look into expansion, as while social cases do need monitoring, it creates a shortage of acute beds when they are kept in Mater Dei.

However, one should note that as soon as the patient is fit to leave MDH but for any reason cannot go home, they are immediately added to a waiting list for respite care.

Selective amnesia or the early onset of Alzheimer’s disease.

Charge them hospital bills with interest which transfer to their blood relatives. That ought to the solve the problem.