May God go with us

At this present moment in time we have been told that no fewer than 6,000 people are waiting for cataract operations. I am not quite sure what percentage that is of 400,000 people however I am sure it is a high figure.

Whether it is or it isn't the fact remains that, despite our new state-of-the-art hospital that we are told is the envy of Europe, the staff is just not coping.

The figures we have are just those waiting for ophthalmic surgery and I am, at the moment, unaware of any other statistics.

It has been rumoured that the situation is equally mind-boggling in other areas.

It is quite natural for expectations to be high. Mater Dei Hospital has been long in coming; too long, in fact. Now that it is up and supposedly running people wish it to be run efficiently and cost-effectively. I can only speak from my own experience.

I have taken my octogenarian mother to Emergency twice since the hospital opened its doors: once for a suspected angina and the other for severe gastric flu.

Emergency is run on an inexplicable system designed to frustrate and upset not only the sick person but also the one person allowed in to accompany him/her. There seem to be more security personnel than nursing or medical staff, which, considering the volatile atmosphere that is created by this system, is a "management by crisis" one if I have ever identified one. There should not be any need to have a battalion of security officers on hand if the Emergency department were well run and the first thing that was done was reassure the patients and put them at ease instead of letting them wait for hours on end without any explanation.

There seem to be even more sick people at Mater Dei than there were at St Luke's. More people waiting here, there and everywhere. Is it simply bad design or is the system not working? Is the staff on some new system that slows the processing of patients? It took from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. to test my mother and finally take her to a ward. Both she and I were utterly exhausted and upset.

One must examine the process and try to identify what is wrong with the system. My own observations are the following, which the minister responsible and his staff may or may not give credence to but are given with the best of intentions.

The first and most glaring shortcoming is that it appears that the many members of staff seem to have forgotten that they are dealing with sick people who are distressed, upset and afraid.

The atmosphere is one of general indifference. From the permanent bunch of smokers, mostly staff, that congregate at every entrance and exit, which asphyxiate anyone getting in and out, sick or not, to the nurse or orderly who will not meet your eye in order not to be importuned.

It could be that the staff are so immune to human suffering that they make nothing of it therefore they must be continually reminded that theirs is a noble profession that calls for the healing power of compassion and empathy as much as it calls for the dissemination of pills!

There have been many angels who suddenly appeared when least expected. The orderly who brought me a sandwich and a cup of tea after having waited for hours in a state of agitation for the tests to be carried out on my mother immediately comes to mind.

He had no obligation to do so. He made the sandwich and brewed the tea himself in the staff canteen.

They were not prefab items from dispensing machines. I was so touched. I felt he had given me champagne and caviar. He wouldn't hear of being paid. There are also those volunteers who go around dispensing refreshments who are very kind and helpful.

It is sad though that for the most part the staff seem to be indifferent. These are shining examples to all.

This indifference is exacerbated by the general attitude. The staff does not seem to realise that they are under constant scrutiny. Watching and waiting for hours in Emergency is not an option. Laughing and joking and general tomfoolery in front of scared patients and their worried relatives is just not on.

I know that they are under stress and that they are overworked and understaffed, which is what they always tell me whenever I ask why the situation is as it is, however they must adopt a more disciplined approach themselves if they would like to lessen the amount of ugly incidents that necessitates all the security people hovering about.

One silly joke at the reception counter may seem trivial to the staff and a matter of no importance, however to someone who has had a close shave with injury or sickness it is terrible and totally out of place.

kzt@onvol.net