Improving work practices to gain beds, but extending Mater Dei 'impossible' - Cassar

Health Minister Joe Cassar has ruled out the possibility of extending Mater Dei Hospital by 500 beds - as proposed by the nurses union (MUMN) - "for the simple reason that such an extension would require between 1,500 and 2,000 professionals to run it."

"The practical way to address the problem is by changing work practices," Cassar said this morning. "Mater Dei houses 900 beds with a staff of 4,000. From where are we going to find 2,000 professionals to take care of the new area?" the health minister asked.

Addressing a press conference two days ago, MUMN President Paul Pace said that "the only solution to the bed shortage problem was the building of a new hospital or the extension of Mater Dei."

Cassar rebutted that he could not understand where the 500-figure had surfaced, and whether any scientific study had been carried out to justify the numbers mentioned by Pace.

He insisted that the main problem was down to "bad working practices" where between 80 and 100 beds were wrongly used each day.

The Health Minister said the bad use of beds was due to patients who were occupying the beds, when in fact they should be at home, within a rehabilitation hospital in a home for the elderly.

Cassar said that, taking example of foreign hospitals, patients do not need to go in a day before an operation when a full examination would already have been carried out beforehand. "If the patient doesn't suffer from any condition which needs constant monitoring before an operation, the patient should be admitted on the day of the operation," he said, adding that this also included major operations.

Cassar also said that the Outpatients services should be extended until 6pm. "There would be morning and afternoon sessions by which doctors who have a private clinic could alternate their shifts and manage their private practices accordingly," he said.

Cassar said that these suggestions were all based on scientific calculations: "These calculations show that 100 beds can be gained."

Referring to the meeting held yesterday with MUMN, Cassar said that many of the issues were resolved and he hoped that next Saturday MUMN would reach an agreement so that next Monday's strike can be averted.

On human resources, Cassar said next July there would be an injection of nurses as students finish their University course.