Gozo cardiac patient's care was 'timely and excellent', additional report details show

More parts of the report on the inquiry on the death of a cardiac patient from Gozo were published today

Additional parts of the report on the death of a cardiac patient from Gozo have been published
Additional parts of the report on the death of a cardiac patient from Gozo have been published

Additional details published today, on the inquiry regarding the incident where a man who suffered a heart attack in Gozo died when there was allegedly no helicopter ready to transfer him to Malta, have said that the patient in fact received timely care of an excellent level.

This information emerged through a statement issued by Deputy Prime Minister and Health Minister Chris Fearne’s office this afternoon, which included the full conclusions and recommendations of the inquiry on the patient’s death - undertaken by Joseph Cacciatolo on Fearne’s orders - and which hadn’t been published before now.

Previously, only a paragraph from the report's conclusions had been made available to the public.

The report’s conclusions say that the patient “was afforded timely and excellent medical care both while in Gozo and in Malta,” and that “medical care and treatment given was according to current established international guidelines and practices.”

The statement was released in reaction to comments made by PN MP Chris Said during Parliament’s adjournment on Wednesday, when he claimed that the real truth behind the patient’s death was covered up, urging Fearne to publish the full inquiry if he didn’t want to be “complicit in the cover-up”.

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Gozo hospital helicopter inquiry part of cover-up of cardiac patient death - Chris Said

The conclusions also said that the air ambulance helicopter was out of service for scheduled maintenance from the 22 to the 24 August, and it was put back in operation according to plan. 

While the air ambulance helicopter was out of service due to maintenance, a backup plan was active as per the protocol. 

This plan puts into motion an arrangement whereby the Armed Forces of Malta helicopter is used to transfer patients from Gozo hospital to Mater Dei.

“Arrangements are in place to ensure that the helicopter/air ambulance is always available in case a transfer of patient is required,” the conclusions further note.

“It is considered normal practice to make use of the Gozo Channel ferry for the transfer of patients if GGH medical staff considers it necessary.”

The part of the conclusions published previously had noted that “the procedures followed were in line with established normal practice and protocols”, when it came to treating the patient and deciding where he was to be treated.

“No difficulties were encountered during the transfer of the patient from Gozo General Hospital (GGH) to Mater Dei Hospital (MDH),” it says.

“The patient was only transferred to MDH once the attending physician considered that it was safe to do so.”

“The air ambulance helicopter was available when a decision was taken that the patient needed transfer to MDH.”

Said invited to see full report 

While the statement said that the full inquiry report could not be published, due to “ethical issues and the data protection of the patient”, it went on to offer Said the chance to go through the entire report in confidence, in order to “assure himself and the public that all good practice and procedure was followed in this case”.

Protocols need to be formalised

In its recommendations, the report highlights that the protocol documents as to the transfer of patients from Gozo hospital to Mater Dei “look very informal, with no document management features, like reference numbers, who prepared the document, who approved the document, any revisions made, and when the next review is due.”

“There is no formal and official agreement with the Gozo Channel ferry to give priority to transfer of patients; it is a traditional arrangement and understandably on a case-by-case basis.“

In light of this, it recommends that protocol documents are formalised and that there is a formalisation of the agreement with the company running the Gozo Channel to give priority to the transfer of patients.

A set of Key Performance Indicators should also be drawn up, against which the service being offered to Gozo hospital for the transfer of patients can be measures, the recommendations say.