Drop in patients at Emergency but nurses still overworked

The campaign aimed at ensuring that only urgent cases call at Mater Dei Hospital's emergency department seems to have paid dividends but patient turn-over remains high in relation to the number of nurses working there, according to emergency nurse Trevor Abela Fiorentino.

The campaign, launched by the government last July, had been criticised as it came in the wake of statistics showing very long waiting lists for some surgical operations.

However, since the campaign was launched the number of registered patients dropped by 968 (almost 10 per cent) from 10,177 in July last year to 9,209 this year. In August, there was a drop of 660 people (about seven per cent) from 9,839 last year to 9,179 this year.

Yet, while the drop in patients helped, emergency nurses still have to cope with a significant load of patients as "the number of nurses remains small compared to patients", Mr Abela Fiorentino, president of the Malta Emergency Nurses' Association (Mena), said.

He was speaking at the first conference organised by Mena since it was set up in 2004.

The campaign - which included billboards showing a man's hand with a finger in plaster together with the question: Is it really an emergency? - was launched after research showed that only 20 per cent of people who went to the department needed emergency treatment.

Nonetheless, Mr Abela Fiorentino says that despite the drop in numbers the nature of the cases remains the same with patients still turning up for reasons which are not urgent.

He said the association would like to see more cooperation between members of the various professions working within the emergency department, he said.

Speaking during the conference, the Parliamentary Secretary for Health, Joseph Cassar, highlighted the challenges faced by emergency nurses who work round the clock, at a fast pace and meet patients of different ages, socio-economic backgrounds and different ailments.