Dying in a hospital corridor for lack of space in a normal ward is most undignified, irrespective of any reason the hospital authorities may come up with. Absolutely no one would wish to have any member of his family or a relative die in a hospital corridor, and even the thought of it ought to call for urgent remedial measures by the hospital authorities.
It is all very well for the government to say that all steps are being taken to increase the number of beds at the hospital. No one doubts this, but what is clearly needed is some thinking outside the box to relieve the general hospital of beds occupied by people who do not need to be there.
There is need for an urgent meeting of minds to knock into shape arrangements for the utilisation of space at other hospitals.
To have two people dying in hospital corridors in a matter of days is far too much to take. Health Minister Konrad Mizzi was more than a little insensitive when he said that unfortunately people die in hospital every day and that this is a reality.
Of course it is, but to a country that for many years prided itself on the quality of the health care given in hospital, dying in a corridor is degrading. It is shameful that Malta has come to this, more so when the country is supposed to have a state-of-the-art hospital.
There is no question that the quality of healthcare is excellent. Malta’s health professionals are first rate. But in this day and age patients do not expect to stay even one minute in a hospital corridor for lack of space in wards, no matter how well equipped they may be or how caring the medial staff and doctors are.
It is strange that given the Labour Party had criticised the previous administration so much about healthcare before the election, it has found it so hard now that it is in government to tackle such a serious problem.
Unfortunately, the unavailability of bed space is overshadowing some of the good work being done to improve the general health service, even though a report about Malta’s healthcare, just published, does not speak well of the situation. It is not the first report to pinpoint failings in Malta’s health service, with practically all highlighting as one of the main shortcomings long waiting times.
The latest, Euro Health Consumer Index 2014, ranks Malta 27th out of 36 European states, lagging behind Hungary, Slovakia and Latvia. This is a bad placing indeed, suggesting that, despite all improvements made from time to time, there is something missing in the overall running of the service.
The explanation for the high mortality rate may be acceptable, but other shortcomings brought up in the report require correction if the island is to earn a higher place in the index.
What is unacceptable is the argument made by a health ministry spokesman that the side effects of “one major success of the Maltese healthcare system” – high life expectancy – meant a higher demand for certain types of services that created waiting lists.
If this is the case, then the health service ought to be organised in a way that would see to this as a matter of course.
By the spokesman’s reasoning, if life expectancy continues to improve, the waiting list will become longer. This is not what the people want to hear – let alone see happen.