Hospital receiving elderly COVID-19 patients not observing safety protocols, PN MPs say

The Good Samaritan Hospital is putting patients’ lives at risk because it is not observing COVID-19 safety protocols, Nationalist MP Maria Deguara said.

The private hospital has been contracted by the government to house coronavirus patients transferred there from homes for the elderly. The hospital is run by the owners of St Thomas Hospital.

Deguara was speaking at a press conference alongside fellow Opposition MP Stephen Spiteri outside the hospital in St Paul’s Bay.

She said patients recovering at the facility were not receiving adequate care.

“Why does the hospital not have the proper equipment to look after patients with COVID-19?” she asked.

Deguara said the rooms were too small, and beds were not adequately spaced out to ensure social distancing.

“Patients do not always have a phone in their room, which for the elderly may be their own mode of communication,” she said, warning that this could lead to depression.

Deguara said that she heard of multiple staff members within the Good Samaritan Hospital tested positive this morning.

She added that many staff and caretakers do not speak good English or Maltese. “It is a right for patients to be able to speak to the staff in their mother language,” she said.

Deguara also questioned why the contract between the Good Samaritan and the health authorities was not public. 

The PN MP said it would be a mistake to see the COVID-19 vaccine as a solution. “You have to remember that we are purchasing it with the EU. We will be allocated vaccines based on our population size. To begin with we will probably only get 40,000, enough for front liners. It may take months for further batches to arrive. It is a mistake to think everything will go back to normal when the vaccine arrives,” she said.

Her colleague Stephen Spiteri said that the name of the hospital was misleading, and should reflect the services provided at the location. 

Spiteri said that the well-being of the elderly should be a top priority. “Our policies, and our behaviour should reflect our want to protect the most vulnerable in society,” he said.