Health Minister Joe Cassar has shot down calls by the nurses’ union for a new 500-bed hospital, saying the priority remained changing outdated work practices.
Surgeons are the people who know when it is best to operate from a clinical perspective
“It’s very easy for people to say ‘we need a new hospital’ but unless we change outdated doctors’ and nurses’ practices, even a new 1,000-bed hospital won’t be enough,” Dr Cassar said.
The Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses has repeatedly insisted that Mater Dei Hospital, with its 825 beds, was too small for Malta. The government disagrees, saying it was deemed suitable by world-renowned consultants Johns Hopkins International.
Dr Cassar has vented his frustration about “outdated” work practices in the past and he reasserted his position yesterday.
“If we continue working as we’ve been, adding more beds isn’t going to solve anything. We need to ensure an acute hospital is not used for anything else. The same goes for a rehabilitation hospital or geriatric one.”
But MUMN president Paul Pace was adamant his union’s 500-bed proposal was not plucked out of thin air.
“Although St Luke’s Hospital officially had 1,100 beds, in reality it could host 1,340. Mater Dei Hospital has 825 beds. Our proposal essentially bridges the 500-bed gap between the two.”
Mr Pace went a step further. “In reality, 500 is conservative. You need to think long-term when building a hospital and our population is growing and ageing.”
Dr Cassar had little time for some of the MUMN’s other proposals.
The union wants control over elective surgery waiting lists to be managed by a central office rather than left to individual consultants, something Dr Cassar disagreed with, insisting that “surgeons are the people who know when it is best to operate from a clinical perspective”.
Leading orthopaedist Anthony Bernard said Mater Dei’s orthopaedics department has already introduced a centralised waiting list system.
But echoing Dr Cassar, Mr Bernard cautioned that such waiting lists could not be cast in stone: “Clinical necessity means you sometimes need to prioritise some operations over others. In such cases, you cannot be shackled by a waiting list.”
Similarly, the orthopaedics department already had daily outpatient quotas for consultants and a staggered appointment system – two other MUMN proposals.
“We’ve had these things in place for quite a few years. But many people still turn up early, just in case. Old habits die hard,” Mr Bernard sighed.
Consultant psychiatrist Anton Grech said he agreed with the MUMN’s proposal for more specialised mental health wards.
“In principle, they’re right but the problem is Malta’s size. You can’t justify having a separate ward for just a couple of cases.
“But we’re moving in that direction and we’ve now got specific drug addiction and adolescence wards.
“Of course there’s room for improvement but we’ve made significant strides already. It’s a work in progress.”
Both Medical Union of Malta president Marti Balzan and Labour Party health spokesman Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca did not reply to an invitation to comment on MUMN’s proposals.