Health Minister Konrad Mizzi yesterday confirmed to Parliament that a person had died on a bed in a hospital corridor early in the afternoon. The incident happened in the extension to ward Medical Admissions Unit 1.
The patient, he said, passed away had been given all necessary care, and the patient could have been in any other bed at Mater Dei when the condition deteriorated.
While expressing the Opposition’s condolences, Leader of the Opposition Simon Busuttil asked if it is acceptable for Dr Mizzi, that two years after Labour announced its so-called roadmap for the health sector, to have patients dying in hospital corridors.
At this point MPs from both sides of the house started shouting at each other, with one PL MP being heard shouting “like you (the PN) did.”
Dr Mizzi said it was a shame that Dr Busuttil was trying to get political mileage out of the issue. “Yes, he died in a ward extension. He was given all the necessary care but, yes, people do die in hospitals.”
Dr Mizzi said the Labour government has not cancelled elective surgeries because of a shortage of beds. “Of course we are not happy with what we inherited from the previous government but we will be addressing these issues.” Dr Mizzi said the government will be building a new ward.
The health minister said he is ready to order an inquiry into the case, if the opposition insists that the environment the patient was in led to his death. “I invite Dr Busuttil to visit Mater Dei, and I will show him what we have improved, and issues we are currently working in.”
Speaker Anglu Farrugia struggled to keep order after PN Whip David Agius called for a point of order after claiming to hear Foreign Minister George Vella accuse PN Leader Simon Busuttil of incitement.
Dr Vella insisted that the PN should not try to gain mileage at the expense of grieving families. MPs from both sides of the house continued to shout at each other, with Dr Farrugia in difficulty to restore order.
Dr Busuttil said the Opposition was not scared of Minister Michael Farrugia’s threats and would not be silenced. “We want your protection. Today we did not have your protection,” he told Speaker Anglu Farrugia.
PN Whip David Agius demanded an apology from Michael Farrugia and said it was not acceptable for the Speaker to let him speak in that way.
In a statement, the Nationalist Party expressed its serious concern on the rapid deterioration of our public health services. No one deserves to die in a hospital corridor. The Prime Minister should wake up and try to start managing the situation which is now evidently out of control.
The country urgently needs a roadmap for public health. Joseph Muscat never had a roadmap. After two years he still does not have one.