Hospital bed shortage eases

Bed shortages at Mater Dei Hospital were less pronounced yesterday after 20 patients were transferred to St Vincent de Paul hospital through “cooperation” with the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses.

At one point, there were no patients waiting for a bed in the Emergency Department, a Health Ministry spokesman said, cautioning however the situation could change at any moment.

The rival Emergency Nurses’ Union is still unhappy with the situation, questioning how long it will last given the bed shortage problem.

The patient transfer, which brings some reprieve to the crisis that developed at the state hospital in the last few days, was announced by Health Minister Joe Cassar yesterday at an unofficial press conference outside the Emergency Department where nursing staff is represented by the recently formed Emergency Nurses’ Union.

The ENU maintained the ministry should stop riding the influenza wave as an excuse for the bed shortage and pointed out the improvements were unlikely to plug the problem in the long term. “We want the situation to come back to normal and to remain normal,” union president John Zammit said.

Pointing out he was pleased things had improved, he questioned whether the progress would last in the long run and asked if beds for social cases would also be found so quickly in the future.

Mr Zammit was not invited to the unofficial press conference held outside the department and expressed infuriation that MUMN, “which doesn’t represent the nurses in emergency”, was present instead.

“God forbid 300 people were admitted with chest infections, otherwise where would we put the surgical cases,” he wondered, adding the surge of influenza was something that happened every winter.

His contention was backed up by general practitioners who described the situation as “normal”. Consultant virologist Christopher Barbara said, so far, there was no suspicion the strain of influenza was more aggressive than in previous winters.

Mr Zammit pointed out the real problem was bed-space and how well the hospital was prepared. “This is not a problem that is going to be sorted overnight.”

However, Dr Cassar stood his ground on the influenza issue at the press conference. Stopping short of pointing fingers at Mr Zammit, Dr Cassar said: “Although it was said lately it is not true there was a surge in influenza, I have to say that, not only was there a surge, there was an increase over last year.”

In the first five days of January, there was a 10 per cent increase in hospital admissions over the same period last year, he continued. However, things seemed to have taken a turn for the better, he said. When questioned whether he was referring to the bed shortage problem or the influenza surge, Dr Cassar did not answer directly: “The influenza warning can be issued every year from mid-December to mid-February.” Dr Cassar thanked the hospital staff for their hard work, saying at times like these there was added stress on those working at the hospital.

However, through the cooperation of the MUMN, 20 patients awaiting long-term care were transferred to St Vincent de Paul Residence in addition to the usual amount.

A ministry spokesman said it was through the MUMN’s support they were able to add beds in the residence, pointing out the union had previously been “completely” against such a move.

The measures taken this week, in which another 18 patients were transferred from the acute care hospital to private residential homes, saw the number of patients waiting on a stretcher in casualty at 28 yesterday morning, down from 62 the day before.

No surgeries were cancelled because of the problem, the minister said. In fact, in the first five days of January, operations carried out at Mater Dei increased by 17 per cent over the same time last year.

Dr Cassar stressed the importance of teamwork and said MUMN’s act contrasted sharply with that of “others” who threatened industrial action “in times of crisis”.

On Tuesday, the ENU called on the Health Department to sort out the overcrowding problem in the Casualty Department or face industrial action.

The situation in numbers:

1,628 – Number of people visiting the Emergency Department between January 1 and 5, increasing by 145 when compared to 2010.

581 – Operations carried out in the first five days of January, up from 497 (17 per cent) over last year.

497 - Patients admitted to hospital in the first five days of January this year, up by 47 patients over last year.

78 – The number of times the ambulance was called out every day from January 1 - 5, up from 70 times a day in the same period of 2010.

38 – Social cases were transferred to long term care, either in St Vincent de Paul residence or private homes for the elderly over the last two days.

28 – People waiting in casualty corridors for a place in the wards yesterday morning, down by 34 since the day before.

10 – Additional admissions every day compared to last year.