Management and staff disagree on security at Mount Carmel Hospital

The number of seclusion rooms were "sufficient", and aggression towards staff at Mount Carmel Hospital involving more than one patient was a "remote occurrence", according to the hospital's management.

The management made the statement following Wednesday's incident when two doctors were slightly injured after they were attacked in the hospital's male Ward One by three patients.

The incident took place when a drug addict had a verbal clash with two doctors, turned aggressive, broke a window pane, grabbed a shard of glass and used it to slightly injure one of the doctors.

The hospital management explained that since the seclusion rooms were occupied, as a temporary measure, two of the patients were allocated to a single room each.

Although secure, these single rooms were situated in a ward not designated for this category of patients. This was done to ensure the safety of all concerned, especially employees, the management held.

The day following the incident, the patients were re-allocated to high security units since they were vacant.

Mount Carmel Hospital's decision to use just four seclusion rooms is based on current European practices. These practices are based on a country's population and the number of yearly admissions to a mental hospital.

Mount Carmel Hospital is audited by the Commission for the Prevention of Torture, whose last visit to the hospital took place in 2001. The commission forms part of the European Council and it assesses the number of seclusion rooms and their usage to appraise the service given to patients.

The Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses lamented that four seclusion rooms were not sufficient.

But the management argued that taking into consideration the low probability of a recurrence of such an incident, and the wide recognition of current European practices, the number of seclusion rooms at present is deemed to be sufficient.

The seclusion room, which replaced the infamous 18-bed Ward 10, has only four beds.

The hospital management commended the action taken by the staff on the scene of the incident:

"These employees behaved in a highly professional and timely manner and showed high competence in crisis management."

After the incident, the MUMN instructed nurses at Mount Carmel Hospital's Mixed Admission Ward to ensure two violent patients are not taken out of the ward's time-out rooms for safety reasons.

The MUMN has lamented there was no specific ward at Mount Carmel for substance abuse patients.

Sources close to the hospital said that the management was not taking into consideration the foreigners admitted to the hospital and that these were stretching resources to the limit.

The sources said that patients linked with alcohol and drug abuse were being admitted into mixed admission wards, when these should be allotted their own ward.

It was also common practice for patients to be transferred to the mixed admission ward once Ward One, which has 20 beds, is occupied.

"Ward One has become a daily headache, as we try to figure out where we are going to transfer the patients. As a result it's not the first time that doctors and nurses have been assaulted by the patients," the sources said.