MAM echoes call for relatives to relieve bed shortage

The failure of families to do their utmost to take care of elderly relatives discharged from hospital was contributing to an acute shortage of beds, the Medical Association of Malta said.

MAM's statement echoes comments by Parliamentary Secretary for Health Joe Cassar last Sunday underlining the need for post-operative patients to be nursed at home.

MAM lamented that an increasing number of families were forsaking traditional family values and actively pressuring medical staff to refrain from discharging patients who were otherwise fit for discharge, while others were abandoning elderly relatives completely.

Around 80 beds can be blocked by such patients at any one time, which amounts to 10 per cent of all hospital beds and around 30 per cent of all acute medical beds, according to MAM.

When relatives refused to take care of such patients, there was no option but to admit these elderly people to rehabilitation beds at Karin Grech Hospital, where demand still outweighed supply despite an increase in beds.