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Gerald Fenech
With the opening of the new Mater Dei hospital just a couple of days away, it seems that the actual migration is still in a precarious state. It appears that it will take more than a significant effort to get the new hospital, which will cost the nation over a quarter of a billion liri, up and running.
Notwithstanding the situation, Parliamentary Secretary Tonio Fenech is confident that the hospital should be up and running by the end of year, at the very latest.
Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses Secretary General Colin Galea, explained that any progress regarding migration to the new hospital was ‘deadlocked’, although a meeting between the union and the Prime Minister is expected to take place within the coming days.
“If we are to continue offering the same services to the patient which we used to offer at St. Luke’s then we will need at least 200 new nurses at Mater Dei. Apart from the new hospital issue, we have had an increase of patients at Zammit Clapp and St Vincent De Paule hospitals due to the transfer of the oncology department and other elderly patients from the defunct Sir Paul Boffa hospital. There is no way we can guarantee the current service with the numbers we have today and if this is going ahead then the quality of life of the patient will suffer as well as our member’s psychological situation with added stress.”
Galea revealed that the union was waiting for a summons from the OPM to discuss the issue with the PM after a meeting was requested last week.
Malta Medical Association Secretary General Martin Balzan said that although discussions on the migration to Mater Dei were at an advanced stage, there was still no agreement on how doctors would begin operating at the new hospital.
“We are quite close to reaching an agreement and I am convinced that with some goodwill on both sides, we should be able to proceed with the migration to Mater Dei. Although the hospital is being inaugurated on Friday, I’m sure there never was the intention for any intense activity to commence from day one. Our discussions are focused on the long term issues regarding the services we are to provide to patients and to ensure that these are improved”.
Dr Balzan also revealed that an MAM council meeting is being held tomorrow to discuss the way forward regarding migration discussions and eventual implementation.
Speaking to this newspaper, Parliamentary Secretary Tonio Fenech explained that the migration plan was being conducted locally although there have been twinning arrangements with similar hospitals in the UK to smooth out certain issues.
“Our people have visited hospitals in the UK to observe firsthand certain migration processes and I envisage that the hospital should be up and running by the end of the year although our target remains within four months from next Friday’s opening date”.
In the meantime, there are still other crucial pending issues regarding Mater Dei’s operation with still no sign of any development regarding the hospital’s supposedly state of the art IT system. The multi million liri tender had initially appeared to have swung towards INSO spa who were awarded preferred bidder status.
However, allegations of corruption then surfaced which resulted in the Prime Minister halting the process and ordering a fresh call for tenders. So far, absolutely nothing has moved forward in this regard and with the hospital opening only a few days away, it seems like the only thing we can look forward to is just another expensive reception. |
