The doctor’s union yesterday expressed doubts about the government’s commitment to address hospital overcrowding.

The Medical Association of Malta (MAM) says it has been waiting more than six months to put its proposals to Social Policy Minister Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca.

Times of Malta yesterday reported that according to the nurses’ union, overcrowding at Mater Dei Hospital in recent days had reached alarming levels.

In the Day Care Unit, 59 beds have been crammed into a ward supposed to cater for 15 patients.

This has led to a number of non-urgent surgeries being cancelled, adding to the long waiting list.

Contacted by this newspaper, the secretary general of the Medical Association of Malta, Martin Balzan, said that the root of the problem was that there were about 75 patients waiting to be admitted for long-term care at Saint Vincent de Paul and 25 cases waiting for admission at Karin Grech Rehabilitation Hospital.

Six months ago we requested a meeting with the Social Policy Minister but haven’t received a reply

“Effectively this means that 100 out of the 240 beds at the medical wards at Mater Dei are being permanently blocked,” said Dr Balzan.

The doctors’ union is suggesting that rather than having Mater Dei bearing the brunt of the crisis, the additional load should be temporarily spread to other institutions such as those two. The advantage would be that no operations would have to be cancelled.

“This would be patchwork as the long-term solution has to be based on geriatric services and better community-supported services.”

The long-term solution was to plan for the next 10 years to cater for the demand of rehabilitation and long-term care.

However, he cautioned the number of people currently in residential homes was “artificially high”.

Dr Balzan said a minority of people sent their relatives to an old people’s home or simply left them at Mater Dei with the intention of liquidating their assets. He added that this form of abuse could be addressed by introducing legal mechanisms similar to those in other countries, through which people in residential homes automatically have their assets protected by trustees or by laws.

MAM had been very willing to discuss these problems with the government for months but had received no feedback, he said.

“Six months ago we requested a meeting with Social Policy Minister Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca to put forward our long-term policy proposals, but haven’t received a reply.”

The impression they got from the government’s reluctance to hold discussions was that drafting a policy for the future was not a priority.

However, he said they were not contemplating industrial action as their ultimate aim was to influence decision taking.

Asked about reports that Mater Dei management was applying pressure to discharge patients earlier than recommended, he said doctors were very reluctant to do so.

“While fully understanding the management’s point of view, there is a limit beyond which a patient can be discharged.”

Malta’s average hospital stay, he added, was quite short compared with countries like the UK.

Dr Balzan said they were not ready to compromise patient safety, as clinicians had responsibility for any consequences, not managers.