One of the Libyans being treated in Malta succumbed to his injuries yesterday as plans to bring another 13 seriously wounded war victims from Misurata fell through at the last minute.

As a union we believe these patients should be treated. We cannot refuse them

Meanwhile, the Emergency Nurses Union said Malta should continue to help Libyan victims but warned that the Intensive Care Unit at Mater Dei was full and solutions still had to be found for overcrowding at the hospital.

There was no official explanation given as to why a group of between 13 and 18 victims were not transferred as planned yesterday evening from Misurata to Malta, where they were scheduled to be treated at Saint James Hospital.

The government called the press to the airport at 6 p.m. but the event was cancelled a few minutes later.

A Health Ministry spokesman said the patients, who were “seriously” ill but not critical, may still come to Malta at a later stage but the plans to arrive yesterday fell through due to some operational difficulties.

Informed sources said there were technical difficulties with the plan to take a local medical team to Misurata.

Malta has offered treatment to the most seriously injured as part of its humanitarian efforts.

The government yesterday also announced that one of the critically wounded patients being treated at Mater Dei Hospital died in the afternoon, while the condition of another two improved to the point that they were transferred to Saint James Hospital for recovery.

These were among 10 critically-injured patients who were taken to the Intensive Care Unit at Mater Dei Hospital last Tuesday. The others remain critical.

Hospital ‘unprepared’ for major disaster

On the other hand, from six patients who were receiving treatment at Saint James Hospital, five have already left.

Speaking to The Times yesterday, the Emergency Nurses Union president John Zammit said the intensive care unit at Mater Dei, which holds 20 places, was full.

Although he said Malta could not refuse to treat injured Libyans, he warned that the government still had to find solutions to the problems in the emergency unit, where people were left in stretchers around the corridors in undignified conditions.

“These are two separate issues,” Mr Zammit pointed out, making it a point to show his disagreement with the less sensitive comments made by nurses union head Paul Pace last week.

“As a union we believe these patients should be treated. We cannot refuse them. At the end of the day, it could have been us, our country, who needed this help.”

But he said the problem of waiting lists was growing and the government had to find a place in the hospital for those people who after having been seen by emergency doctors had to wait for further investigations.

“Many patients are just left in a corridor for hours or days with no place to wash or eat properly, no toilet... The treatment we can give them there is also limited.”

He clarified that the influx of Libyan patients did not affect these people but served to highlight this issue once again.

“We’ve been saying this for three years,” he said, pointing out that the hospital was unprepared for a major disaster situation, despite having protocol on paper.