Cynthia Busuttil
Octogenarian forced to take taxi to get flu jab
Pauline Fenech, 87, had to go to the Mosta health centre to get the seasonal flu jab after she was told that the supply at the St Paul's Bay local council had run out. Photo: Chris Sant Fournier.
An 87-year-old St Paul's Bay woman had to take a taxi to the Mosta health centre to take the seasonal influenza vaccine after the local council told her the supply had run out.
Pauline Fenech had booked the seasonal jab with the local council weeks before and, although she was informed they would contact her when the vaccine was available, she never received any call. When other pensioners started saying they had taken the jab, Ms Fenech became worried.
She rang the local council and was informed they had run out of vaccines and the closest place to get it would be the Mosta health centre.
"They said they called me three times but it's impossible that I was always out when they called. Sometimes, I don't go out for days on end," Ms Fenech said.
When contacted, the mayor of St Paul's Bay, Graziella Galea, said had Ms Fenech informed her or the council's executive secretary they would have solved her problem. "We might have got her the jab from the health centre or driven her there," Ms Galea said when contacted yesterday morning.
But Ms Fenech insisted she told a council official that going to Mosta would not be easy for her. Yet, no solution was offered.
"Nobody told me they would arrange for me to get the vaccine," the elderly woman said.
The mayor confirmed that Ms Fenech had initially booked the vaccine. "We had her name on the initial list but when we tried to confirm her booking we did not manage to contact her," she said.
Ms Galea said the council tried to contact Ms Fenech three times but she was not at home. She said the council did not get extra vaccines so they would not go to waste.
"She was the only such case we had and I only got to know about it through an e-mail," the mayor said, referring to a letter Ms Fenech's son sent to the local council, the government and the media.
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15 Comments
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owen azzopardi
Nov 6th 2009, 08:23
Att : Joseph Schembri.
For your information her son does not have a driving licenece...!!!
duncan cassar
Nov 5th 2009, 21:44
if the council have booked the right amount of vaccines they should have 1 extra and if some makes some checks they would have found the one missing and after all I think that it was better that we take the nurses to eldey people house to give them to vaccine instead of suggesting them to go to other clinics and causing them a lot of hassle
Brian Loffreda
Nov 5th 2009, 20:14
Can someone tell me why all this fuss about this case? Was this case even worth the space it took on this website? Come on grow up !!!! Why is it not possible that the Council tried to contact her 3 times but to no avail?? Let me put it this way......this poor lady did not get the service from the Council and she had to take a taxi to get the flu jab when she could have easily used public transport which I believe is much cheaper. What about all those people queing for free medicine which they are entitled to and get this reply 'SORRY...OF STOCK'.
Joseph Incorvaja
Nov 5th 2009, 17:38
We live in the same flat as Mrs Fenech and can confirm that she very rarely goes out!
Can the Council provide the days and times of their three attempted phone calls please?
Does the word 'sorry' exist any more?
R Gauci
Nov 5th 2009, 15:19
@ D. Vella and Neville Debattista
Very well-said!!! I agree with you 100%!!
D Vella
Nov 5th 2009, 13:26
Why not send out letters advising time and date as other Council's do?.It's not rocket science.
Ppace
Nov 5th 2009, 12:52
if this old lady had bought the vaccine which costs around 6 euros she would have spent less time and hassle. Or else she could have used the public transport service !!
neville debattista
Nov 5th 2009, 12:44
@Joseph Schembri. Your argument does not hold water. The council made the mistake and hence it would have been fair enough if they had remedied.
Kristian Zammit
Nov 5th 2009, 12:27
We should first of all be thankful for the provision of FREE influenza vaccines, as for the rest of the free health services in general before complaining about the details. It is understandable that access to such a service needs to be facilitated for the frail elderly and it is not enough to provide a service which cannot be accessed. However, some practical thinking from the side of the council or the lady's informal carers would have easily solved the good old lady's problem.
g portelli
Nov 5th 2009, 12:13
@ Joseph Schembri
Pauline Fenech is 87. How old do you think her son is? He might be a pensioner too and may be not in good health...I'm sure they didn't get a taxi just for fun!
Neville Debattista
Nov 5th 2009, 12:05
Dear Graziella, even if you manage to convince me ( which will never be the case unless I get drunk or am out of my senses ) that Mrs. Fenech never mentioned the fact that it would be much of a problem for her to travel to Mosta the ball would still be lying at your feet . Because even the most unintelligent being amongst you should have foreseen that it was going to be difficult for an octogerian to travel from St.Paul's Bay to Mosta and back. Common sense should have prevailed and the lady should have been offered a lift there and then or else as you have suggested earlier the jab would have been procured from another place. And another thing. Since you say that the council does not call for extra vaccines ( which anyhow does not make sense at all ) and you confirm that the lady had actually booked the jab but never got jabbed at all then that would leave you with one extra jab which unexpicably you never had. The only explanation to all this is the fact that none of your team ever booked the jab for the old lady.
smifsud
Nov 5th 2009, 11:35
please take care of this dear lady from now on as i hate to think that we are forgetting our precious elderly folks out to dry ..reimburse her money back for the taxi ,,,and dont do it again you hear!!!
Roger Boyle
Nov 5th 2009, 10:42
So she took a cab. Thank God we have a taxi service. What's the big deal?
Joseph Schembri
Nov 5th 2009, 10:12
Curious that her son found the time to write letters to the media, the council etc, but not the time to take his mother to the health centre for the jab.
victor pulis
Nov 5th 2009, 09:41
The least the council can do is reimburse the lady the cost of the taxi.