‘Internal refinements’, outsourcing plans to address bed shortage at MDH

A recruitment drive, “internal refinements” and outsourcing projects are on the table for Mater Dei Hospital to address bed shortage and waiting lists.

Visiting workers at the hospital’s Fairyland and the Surgical Ward 1 on Workers’ Day, Health Minister Konrad Mizzi and parliamentary secretary Chris Fearne reiterated the government’s commitment to tackle all issues in a bid to address the persisting waiting lists problem.

“We need a number of years for all projects to be rolled out but we are concentrating on both short-term and long-term solutions. We are launching a serious of projects, some of them are currently being refined, which should make the difference,” Mizzi said.

One of the plans for the hospital includes increasing bed capacity; the other is to include the private sector and outsource operations. One of the internal procedures being refined is for certain orthopaedic patients to be discharged earlier and a nurse sent to visit the patient at home.

The private sector has been described as a key player to address the problems that have plagued the state hospital for years on end.

Fearne also announced that a recruitment drive in collaboration with the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses (MUMN) will kick off next week.

“The demand for health care professionals is always increasing and next week we will be launching a recruitment drive,” the junior minister said, adding that further details will be announced during a separate press conference.

Following reports in the Nationalist media, the two Cabinet members denied that patients suffering from contagious diseases had been left in the corridors. They also denied that patients died in the hospital’s corridors.

Quizzed about the alleged political discrimination in the distribution of medicines, Mizzi said the ministry had carried out an internal investigation.

The investigation concentrated on speaking to a number of persons, including pharmacist Denise Ellul who was the first to speak out on the alleged discrimination during a political activity. The investigation included the health ministry’s permanent secretary and the director general.

“No political discrimination was reported from our side but the investigation did flag a number of issues which need to be improved in the Pharmacy of Your Choice (POYC) scheme,” the health minister said.

He also called for improvement in communication in the operation of the POYC and the stakeholders – an issue which will be discussed next week in a scheduled meeting with the Chamber of Pharmacists and the GRTU.