Patients in medical wards reach unusual high

It costs the government Lm80 daily to keep a patient at St Luke's Hospital and, therefore, it would make a lot of financial sense were it to enter into agreement with the private sector to accommodate patients in homes for the elderly, Colin Galea, secretary general of the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses, told The Times yesterday.

Mr Galea was commenting on the fact that the number of patients in the eight medical wards at St Luke's shot up in a number of instances from 30, which is the average number of patients in a ward, to 38 and in some cases even to 42.

"This is an unbearable situation for the nurses. Normally there are six nurses to each ward but with sick leave and other absences the number is usually closer to four.

"The high number of patients in such wards pushing past the 40 mark is usually associated with the months of December and January but this is the first summer that such a high increase has been recorded.

"If the situation - which has been going on for the past four years - carries on like this how are the nurses going to cope in winter? Would the number of patients shoot up to 50 then?" Mr Galea asked.

The MUMN will today be directing its member nurses in the medical wards to strike between 9.20 - 11.30 a.m. in protest against the government for having so far failed to employ additional staff.

The union has directed its members to ensure that the patients will not be badly hit and, for this reason, the two most senior nurses in each ward will not join the strikers.

The medical wards at St Luke's are: 1, 3 and 5 for men; 2, 4 and 6 for women and wards seven and eight are mixed. There are about 60 social cases in these wards, that is patients who have nowhere to go or who have been dumped by relatives there.

To make matters worse, while the hospital has engaged additional consultants, St Luke's does not have the necessary set up and support staff including porters and couriers, Mr Galea noted.

Out of the newly qualified 90 nurses, 60 have obtained a diploma in nursing, while the rest will be graduating BSc nursing.

Out of the 60 diploma holders, 26 intend to continue their studies to BSc level which leaves only 64 candidates eligible for employment.

While the MUMN is claiming that the state hospitals need over 140 additional nurses, the government has yet to conclude its own exercise to see what is the amount of nursing staff it requires. The government is maintaining it will employ additional nurses according to exigencies.

Sources say the government is holding back from employing more nurses because of financial restraints. The annual salary of a nurse ranges between Lm4,000 and Lm6,000 excluding overtime.

"The medical wards are the most demanding wards on nurses. In fact, a substantial number of them have applied for a transfer to other sections because of the burn-out they experience," Mr Galea said.