The Nationalist Party appealed to the government to raise the budget allocated to Karin Grech Rehabilitation Hospital, citing the allocation of €500,000 as being far too little to furnish the unique hospital with much needed facilities.
Speaking yesterday after visiting Malta’s only rehabilitation facility, PN Health Spokesman Claudio Grech said rehabilitation facilities were of vital importance to cater for the changing demographic brought about by an increasingly ageing population.
Rehabilitation facilities enabled patients to be discharged more quickly from Mater Dei Hospital and helped prevent re-admissions, therefore helping reduce the spillage of patients into the corridors – a chronic problem which, Mr Grech added, had currently resurfaced.
The operational budget of Karin Grech Hospital is €12.5 million per annum. The Budget allocation of halfa million ismuch too low
Half of the 250 beds at Karin Grech were used up by social cases who had nowhere else to go.
“The operational budget of Karin Grech Hospital is €12.5 million per annum. The Budget allocation of half a million is much too low.”
He added that certain parts of the hospital were in need of refurbishment since the building was old.
Research and innovation in the rehabilitation field meant that the hospital needed to be brought up to date with better equipment and technology.
The country also needed to be furnished with additional rehabilitation facilities, especially in light of the fact that Karin Grech often ended up being used as a geriatric hospital.
Mr Grech added that two possible options had been conceived of before the present administration came into power in 2013: the reconversion of the disused St Philip’s Hospital in Santa Venera and, secondly, the construction of a new facility opposite Mater Dei Hospital.
“If our country does not have a clear strategy now, it will be hard to meet the demand later on. Rehabilitation should not be an afterthought by the main pillar of the health sector.”
Human resources were also needed to give specialised care within the community, such as physiotherapy. Mr Grech noted that although the country was preparing trained people, they were not being engaged by the government.
He referred to allied healthcare professionals who graduated a few months ago and were not given the opportunity to work - not even on a casual basis. The orthotics and prosthetics unit was also in dire need of investment, he said.