The government should take heed of solutions proposed by unions to help solve the overcrowding problem at Mater Dei Hospital’s emergency department, according to Labour spokesman Marie Louise Coleiro Preca.
She said the situation at the state hospital was “shameful” with an average of 40 to 70 patients spending hours, if not days, on stretchers in the corridors or makeshift wards and others waiting between 10 and 12 hours to be seen to.
On Wednesday, an elderly man fell off the stretcher he had been on for a while as he waited for a bed to free up. The incident prompted the hospital authorities to make a push to free up beds and they managed to find 24 spaces, Ms Coleiro Preca said.
In another case, a woman who had been on a stretcher for two days needed to shower and arrangements had to be made for her to do so in a ward.
Ms Coleiro Preca said the situation was even more shameful because patients in corridors had absolutely no privacy even when it came to procedures like catheter insertions. She said CPR procedures were carried out in hallways in full view of other patients and visitors.
Many cases, she said, were related to an aging population, such as people suffering from falls. Because of the situation, consultants were being pressured to release people early.
The trade unions, she said, were proposing the government solutions but the authorities were doing very little about them. One such measure was turning a store used for uniforms into a ward to provide added bed space.
“The situation does not develop into daily tragedies only because there are people working in this department who are dedicated and go that extra mile,” she insisted.
The Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses specified it was not behind the suggestion mentioned by Ms Coleiro Preca while the Emergency Nurses Union took ownership of the proposed solution, saying it could alleviate the burden.
Ms Coleiro Preca said there could be a rehabilitation hospital for people who did not need emergency or intensive care but were still recovering. Only Karen Grech Hospital could be considered for such a purpose but this was used for elderly patients.
Asked what other alternatives the Labour Party was proposing, Ms Coleiro Preca said the party was still analysing the situation and working on its policies and solutions.
The government, in its reaction, said nearly 60 new nurses were about to be employed with the Health Department after a period of induction, allowing a new ward of 28 beds to be opened in Karen Grech Rehabilitation Hospital. This would increase the number of beds at the hospital to 215 from the 60 available in 2007.