The government has said in a statement that it is trying to establish why the building hosting the emergency unit at Mater Dei Hospital cannot take the weight of additional wards on top of the existing building.
The ministry was reacting to two reports in the media tied to the emergency department, one in the The Malta Independent published yesterday and another in The Sunday Times today.
This newspaper reported that the casualty department is receiving too many patients then it can take and therefore the hospital’s management was turning to makeshift wards to deal with the crisis, leading to more beds being placed in corridors. The situation has reached unprecedented levels, sources on the ground told this newsroom.
The report in the Sunday Times in the meantime read that concrete structures over Mater Dei Hospital’s accident and emergency department are so weak in certain areas they cannot withstand the weight of two planned medical wards, according to tests which have been conducted.
The government said that those responsible for this unseen circumstance would be requested to shoulder responsibility.
A few months ago, the government started working on an expansion plan for the department, which would create space for an additional 68 beds.
As part of the works, the contractor was requested to conduct core tests of the building’s columns and infrastructure.
As soon as the second batch of tests were carried out, it resulted that that building was not strong enough to take additional weight.
The government said that it would be ordering a forensic audit on the current structure while the police will be asked to investigate.
The government argued that it’s priority is the safety of the patient and those who work in the department.
The government also said that a number of temporary measures would be implemented for the timebeing.
The government is also working around the clock to find an alternative to place the sixty eight beds which were planned to be created once the new building structure was in place.