Temporary mitigation measures are to start being taken this week to strengthen the structure of Mater Dei’s Emergency Department, the government said.

The Sunday Times of Malta said last Sunday tests revealed that the concrete structures over the department were so weak in certain areas they could not withstand the weight of two planned medical wards.

The government said in a statement this afternoon that the third set of tests carried out on the structure confirmed earlier results.
It said an external board of inquiry was being set up to establish the facts and timeline of events.

The board would be analysing criminal and civil liabilities, cooperate with the police in their investigations and appoint the necessary technical experts.

The government said it wanted to establish what happened in the past and would be calling for political, technical and commercial responsibilities to be shouldered.

A detailed site survey of the department as well as an analyses of the whole hospital would also be carried out and initial discussions were already underway to commission a foreign company specialising in the sector to carry out the survey.

Work to identify an alternative site for the building of new wards so that EU funds would not be lost had already started.

The government said safety was, however, a priority and both the minister and parliamentary secretary were committed to take decisions on the basis of the information gathered.

Earlier today, the Nationalist Party called for an urgent meeting of the Parliamentary Health Committee to discuss the hospital structure situation.

It said it felt that every declaration or allegation being made on the matter should be debated at a Parliamentary level even because of the fact that the building was used by hundreds, if not thousands, of patients, their relatives, nurses, doctors and other employees, daily.

The PN’s letter to the committee chairman can be read in the pdf link below.