Mater Dei Hospital is bracing itself for a busier period as people spend more time outdoors in summer, becoming more prone to accidents, CEO Ivan Falzon said.
Demand tended to peak in the warm months, Mr Falzon noted.
“The number of hits increase but they are usually not life-threatening,” he said.
On average, six new cases were added to the list of trauma cases that had to be seen to and, in summer, this could shoot up to eight or nine.
Families of patients who required attention at Mater Dei Hospital complained to the Times of Malta that, at times, one encountered delays and surgery was postponed.
Sometimes, it took as long as six days for a patient suffering from fractures to be operated upon, one family member said, repeating what was told to them by a staff member.
The recommended practice is that non-critical patients are grouped- Mater Dei CEO
Mr Falzon conceded that more needed to be done to “communicate better with the patients”. He said efforts were being made to increase efficiency by grouping patients together for scheduled trauma interventions.
“The recommended practice is that non-critical patients are grouped,” he said.
“We look at all the fracture cases that come in and ensure that a specialised consultant deals with them.
“If patients are still upset about the situation, then we need to make sure we communicate better,” Mr Falzon said.
He said certain procedures were introduced to ensure that patients could be discharged more easily from the Accident and Emergency Department and then return to hospital to undergo the required intervention. Mr Falzon strongly believes this would help improve turnover.
Trauma cases were dealt with according to clinical priorities, he noted, adding that these could be shuffled every other hour according to the prevailing demand.
“When clinical conditions allow, these are managed through what are known as specialist semi-elective lists, involving specialists in the particular field,” he said.
"This way, the patient is getting a customised treatment.”