NEWS | Wednesday, 25 July 2007

Ministry of Health shirks responsibility for St Luke’s migration to Mater Dei

Sarah Attard Gialanze
When contacted by MaltaToday for comments regarding the migration process from St Luke’s to Mater Dei the Ministry of Health, the Elderly and Community Care, a ministry’s spokesperson simply shirked responsibility by referring the matter to the Foundation for Medical Services (FMS).
Dr Martin Balzan, President of the Medical Association of Malta, said discussions concerning hospital workers’ conditions are still underway, adding that the transfer of outpatients at St Luke’s to Mater Dei, which was scheduled for August will likely be postponed.
Balzan also said that the MAM does not accept the fact that after 17 years, negotiations began at the eleventh hour and its members found themselves being pressured.
According to Colin Galea, the MUMN has already had discussions with the Health Division and with the Office of the Prime Minister, however, few issues are yet to be resolved.
Galea said there is a shortage of nurses and that this issue must be attended to so as not to compromise the beneficial services to patients. He said in all 200 additional nurses are required due to the migration process, and the Health Division fully agrees with this amount.
During the process of migration from St Luke’s Hospital to Mater Dei, 120 nurses will be needed, and since Zammit Clapp Hospital will be migrating to St Luke’s, the number of patients Zammit Clapp could cater for will then triple. The transfer from Zammit Clapp Hospital to St Luke’s will require 60 more nurses.
Galea continued that for the time being, only social cases and rehabilitation patients will remain at St Luke’s Hospital. Since a number of social case patients were sent to St Vincent De Paule, the service of 20 additional nurses is required.
Initially MUMN held meetings with the Health Division, however it was later decided that the discussions should take place with the Office of the Prime Minister. During these meetings, a retainment package is also being discussed.
The idea behind the retainment package is that some 135 nurses will be graduating from the Institute of Health Care, and together with part-time nurses the number of nurses will amount to 150. The package hopes to encourage students not to leave the IHC and to attract nurses who had left the practice to rejoin. The MUMN envisages that this package will reach the target of 200 nurses.
Galea said he was not informed on the exact migration date, however he said by the end of August the outpatients should have migrated to Mater Dei and the rest are to follow in the beginning of September.