Editorial
Unearthing a can of worms
For the wrong reasons, Mater Dei Hospital is again in the news. This state-of-the-art hospital has been bedevilled by failed time frames and financial overruns. Now, a year after the hospital was officially commissioned in time for the general election, the public is informed that four specialised labs are defective and have, apparently, not yet been used.
These are Biosafety level 3 labs meant to deal with highly infective medical samples and high risk systems such as blood cultures, sputum, cerebrospinal fluid and aspirates. These investigations represent a potentially serious threat to the health and safety of workers.
Such labs have to have very stringent standards and facilities that include equipment, ventilation systems and structural designs so as to ensure that contaminated material can be handled and disposed of safely. Although, as yet not paid for, these laboratories cost the taxpayer millions of euros. Now, it has come to public knowledge that they fell short of the exacting standards required and are being dismantled. Officials of the Health Ministry have been rather parsimonious in providing information.
They admitted that the labs were assessed by hospital laboratory staff together with the Foundation for Medical Services and visiting specialists from Rome's Lazzaro Spallanzani Hospital. The outcome was that the specifications required were found inadequate and that an independent specialist company was called in to have a close look at the situation on the ground.
It seems, though it has not been officially confirmed so far, that Skanska, the contractor entrusted with the hospital's construction, will be held responsible and will have to foot the bill for the overhaul of the labs, although the equipment used by the bacteriology and virology departments can and will be reused. This distressing incident raises various questions that deserve clear answers. One wonders whether throughout this time the hospital could have functioned effectively without the service of such facilities.
Are there any other Biosafety level 3 facilities at the new hospital? Was this high risk work farmed out to outside labs? One also questions whether, locally, private labs are up to scratch to handle such high risk material.
Can the health authorities guarantee that operators and/or members of the general hospital population were not exposed to any unacceptable risk?
It bears reminding that Malta's record with cross infection has already been called into question by EU sponsored surveys.
Such a state of affairs comes as another blow to public confidence that is sick and tired of such crass incompetence and largesse with tax payers' money. When one considers the huge capital and current expenditure involved in getting this hospital off the ground and running, the public rightly expects that such gross mismanagement should have been avoided.
The authorities have to come clean on this matter and give a detailed account of why this happened, who was directly responsible and, above all, explain how high-risk medical investigations are being carried out.
On the positive side, one should be grateful that this very grave shortcoming was recognised, reached the public domain and now seems to be addressed with vigour and determination. Yet, public confidence will take more than that to be assured that the functioning of this hospital is living up to its declared expectations.
The people rightly expect transparency and accountability.
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J. Schembri
Dec 20th 2008, 14:50
@ Igalea : you have a short memory. Labour changed the purpose of the San Raffaele Hospital, and a point in time in 1996 the mlp government was considering to demolish the building but after a report by the late ex-MP Pius Busuttil Mlp , the building plans were changed and the number of beds doubled. In those days they actually dug out the concrete basement .No wonder that Alfred Sant called it "state of the art" , he had the finger in the pie.
Call it whatever you like ,but at the end of the day it's mine and yours , and we don't like our hard earned money to go down the drain.
There is a contract which Skanska has to honour.
@ Charles.j.Schembri: 13 years? So what did MLP actually do in this project ? Did it stop it or did it double the beds in those 22months of MLP government?
Charles.j.Schembri
Dec 19th 2008, 20:45
John Schembri since you mentioned Rolls Royce, we don't have any RR here, but we certainly paid the price of the car. And for sure you can't blame labour, can you....but for sure we blame the PN taking well over 13 years to finish it. Costing almost four times more than the original.....all this from our taxes????......... well like you said we still have a leak in the exhaust pipe. And guess who is paying for it.......As to where you prefer to be treated, well you had a long time waiting to go to Mater Dei....good luck to you............
lgalea
Dec 19th 2008, 20:11
John Schembri
They did not double the beds, but Mater Dejn actually has LESS beds than St Lukes had.
Even the flashy car remains flashy, but certainly not up to standards.
J. Schembri
Dec 19th 2008, 19:52
@lgalea We cannot blame Labour can we? They only doubled the number of beds, and changed it to a general hospital to replace St Luke's.
If you want to compare it with a car , you can say that the silencer of our Rolls Royce has a leaking exhaust pipe. It remains a RR.
I prefer to be treated at MDH than at Saint Luke's.
lgalea
Dec 19th 2008, 18:45
Mario Tabone-Vassallo
Would you accept a new flashy car with flat tyres, engine making all sorts of noises, battery discharged etc?
This is what Mater Dejn is.
And who is to blame if not the PM who was running the Government and has made the taxpayer pay nearly ten times the original estimate and now we find that what we got was a multi-fault Mater Dejn?
J. Schembri
Dec 19th 2008, 18:32
If I were the editor of The Times I would have put this question first : " Did St Luke's Hospital have these lab standards?"
I can give you a straight answer : "NO"
So there is no need to panic , there was a problem in a massive project and it is being resolved , the taxpayer won't be paying for sure.
From what I can see at the hospital , I think Skanska are already doing what is needed. Work in progress.
Charles.j.Schembri
Dec 19th 2008, 14:42
Mario Tabone-Vassallo ....I am sorry but cannot agree with you, you tell us quote The PM was landed with this problem, has at least opened the MD and we will now have to address the shortcomings; but at least it is in use. I do not blame him nor do I blame the minister of health who has been landed this poisoned chalice. Sorry, but who do you blame. Please tell us. As this was in the makings for over 13 years!!!!!! Paid for with our TAXES!!!!!..... Now you tell us he is not to blame...Then who???????????????????
michael john turner
Dec 19th 2008, 14:25
Oh come on Mr Tabone-Vassallo, this is just another example of long term mismanagement and waste of taxpayers money by incompetent government . You "don't blame the Prime Minister" - why not ?, he is the man in charge, it is his responsibility. Why weren't these obvious faults made known long ago, why all the fanfares and false PR to cover up ?
A possible silver lining is that the one PN man who may be competent enough to put things right for the future is now the Minister responsible. Mike Turner
Mario Tabone-Vassallo
Dec 19th 2008, 11:02
It is regretted that such shortcomings turn up. Of course, it is invariably the case in such big projects all over the world, that such shortcomings occur. The PM was landed with this problem, has at least opened the MD and we will now have to address the shortcomings; but at least it is in use. I do not blame him nor do I blame the minister of health who has been landed this poisoned chalice. However, the systems need to be changed. We need regular individual morbidity and mortality data and individual output data. We need to ensure that no patient is discharged from hospital without a discharge note outlining diagnosis/es and treatment/s on discharge. We need to cut down the obsene waiting lists. It would also be interesting to have a full breakdown of the patients that are referred for treatment abroad. These are difficult problems which the current incumbents have to address, although they are not problems directly of their own making