The new wards at Mater Dei hospital welcomed their first patients today, health Parliamentary Secretary Chris Fearne said.

He said the move showed the government's commitment towards solving the chronic lack of bed space at the hospital.

The wards, Medical Admiission Unit 1 & 2, were built over the past 10 months next to the Accident and Emergency Department.

Two hospital wards will now be emptied so that a passage way bridging the new wards to the rest of the hospital will be built.

The original plan, to build the wards in the emergency department, had to be scrapped due to structural problems with the concrete in certain parts of the building.

Instead, the new orange-coded wing, called Medical Assessment Unit, was built between the mortuary and the A&E Department. The project cost €11.5 million, €9 million of which came from European Regional and Development Fund. This unit will host patients for a maximum of 48 hours, while they are undergoing tests and being diagnosed. They will then be discharged or allocated a bed within another ward. The new wards will take in patients on November 2.

The existing wards, Medical Admission Unit 3 and the corridor that was transformed into a permanent ward, known as M7, are to be vacated and refurbished.

By the end of February, when the refurbishment is complete, the hospital will be able to host an additional 64 patients.

The government is also planning to increase the number of beds at Mater Dei by 300, so more floors will be built on top of these new wards.

 

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