Physiotherapist Matthew Azzopardi.

The proposal for a new rehabilitation centre is the “light at the end of the tunnel” according to a physiotherapist at a rehabilitation ward at Karin Grech Hospital who hopes this 17-year-old promise is finally implemented.

Matthew Azzopardi works at Rehab Ward One, which accommodates up to 31 people with different conditions, including spinal injuries, amputees, stroke sufferers, post-hip surgery and multiple sclerosis patients.

“We hope that one day, in the near future, we have a new place.

“The proposal for a new rehab hospital has been going on since 1996,” said Mr Azzopardi, who is a specialist physiotherapist in rehabilitation and disability management.

His call follows that of patients who in recent years said the rehabilitation offered in Malta was not specialised enough to help them cope with life after a devastating accident.

Last week the NGO Breaking Limits expressed concern about the current state of rehabilitation for people suffering from spinal cord injuries, calling on the government to do “something more concrete”.

Spokesman Clifford Portelli called for a specialised unit for spinal cord injuries. If the best treatment could not be offered in Malta, patients could be sent to the UK for the adequate treatment, he said. Unfortunately an agreement for treatment at the UK was stopped in recent years.

Mr Portelli went to Stoke Mandeville in 1995, after he was injured in a diving accident in 1994. During his rehabilitation he gained “the maximum” he could in skills and strength.

Unless you have a good national rehab structure in place, the cost of disabled people on the community is much larger than if they are leading an independent life

He believes the rehabilitation phase could make or break a person’s future, and nothing was more valuable than a person’s life.

Mr Azzopardi, a physiotherapist for the past 12 years, remembers the Spinal Unit at Sir Paul Boffa Hospital, which was transformed into a Neuro Rehab Unit in 2003. In 2010, the unit was closed and Rehab Ward One was opened at Karin Grech, lacking counselling services for young people and outdoor recreational areas, among other things.

The other eight wards are specifically for geriatric cases.

From a specialised rehabilitation unit it was transformed into a place for neurological, orthopaedic and trauma cases.

Younger patients, who could spend up to eight months at the rehabilitation ward if suffering from a spinal injury, were suddenly mixed with older people in an inadequate environment.

Mr Azzopardi believes that rehabilitation – a speciality on its own – has in the last years been forgotten by policy makers.

“We train patients within their own disability to regain as much independence as possible, but the facilities are not adequate. We don’t even have clinical psychologists or psychotherapists, return-to-work programmes, or specialised training for us [staff] – who are mentally drained at the end of every day.

“There is a discrepancy between the physical rehab we offer and training to return back to their everyday life.

“Unfortunately the management of Karin Grech comes from a geriatric background. Geriatrics and a spinal cord injury in a young person have absolutely nothing to do with each other,” he noted.

Rehabilitation has financial implications for the rest of society as well. “Unless you have a good national rehab structure in place, the cost of disabled people on the community is much larger than if they are leading an independent life,” Mr Azzopardi said.

The physiotherapist called for a rehabilitation centre with different specialised units as the staff-to-patient ratio differs between different conditions.

A Health Ministry spokesman confirmed the present system did not cater for young people and the Government was planning a rehabilitation hospital.

“Karin Grech Hospital is a geriatric rehabilitation centre and so it does not cater for those between the ages of 16 to 65 years, including spinal injuries and stroke patients.

“It only caters for those aged 65 and above,” a spokesman said.

Patients who need this type of rehabilitation may also be managed abroad.

However the present Rehabilitation Abroad Policy does not cover these because of an ill-defined stay and unlimited costs, he added.

In the meantime, the ministry was working on a temporary solution on the basis of bilateral relations with another country.

“As a long term solution the ministry is working on the prospects to build a rehabilitation hospital through EU Funds,” the spokesman said.