Patients are being housed in another corridor at Mater Dei Hospital after 178 patients were admitted in just 24 hours, the Health Ministry said yesterday.
In a statement issued just a day after the Opposition urged the government to free up beds at the hospital, the ministry gave a breakdown of the number of admitted patients.
In a 24-hour span between Monday and Tuesday, 178 patients were admitted: 124 from the emergency department, 47 for operations and another seven from homes for the elderly or outpatients. Meanwhile, there were 110 discharges.
Since the number of discharged patients was lower than the intake, a new corridor is being used to host patients. These people will be accommodated in a ward as soon as possible, the ministry said, adding that no operations had been cancelled.
Yesterday the ministry thanked all workers in the health sector who it said were doing their utmost, as one team, to provide an adequate service.
To prepare for any crisis that might arise, the government will enter into partnerships with consultants and family doctors to ensure continuation of treatment once patients were discharged, it added.