On Saturday, 2 December, my mother peacefully passed away at St Vincent de Paule also known as l-Imgieret. I have only words of thanks towards the hospital staff, in particular, those working at St. Francis Ward, where my mother was being kept and tenderly cared for over the last two years and a half.

Unfortunately, St Vincent de Paule has a very negative publicity. Various administrations tried to revert this historical stigma by rebranding the hospital. The reason for this is to be found in the fact that this hospital started out as a pauper’s hospital to take care of  those old people who had no one to care for the past. Many of them were living in our main towns. The hospital was built in an area called L-Imgieret. It was at equidistance from Valletta and the Three Cities. The majority of patients at this hospital came from these cities. The incidence of having old people dying without any one to look after them in the past was not as high. In the villages, ties of kinship and networking were normally stronger.

Unfortunately,  historical reality meant that this place started to get a bad name. Even the area where it was constructed, one hundred and twenty-five years ago, fell victim to this bad publicity. Today, the word Imgieret in Maltese has assumed a very negative meaning. But this word had no bad socio-linguistic connotation prior to the building of a hospital in this area.

Unfortunately,  historical reality meant that this place started to get a bad name. Even the area where it was constructed, one hundred and twenty-five years ago, fell victim to this bad publicity. Today, the word Imgieret in Maltese has assumed a very negative meaning. But this word had no bad socio-linguistic connotation prior to the building of a hospital in this area.  Incidentally, Imgieret is a ‘nom mimmat’; a form of Semitic noun which is conjugated from the roots of an Arabic word. If my memory does not fail me, when I, as a student used to attend Godfrey Wettinger’s lectures on Maltese nomenclature, he used to explain this word as having the same roots of the word nigret. The word nigret derives from the Italian word ‘negro’ and those areas which carry such a nomenclature might have got their name from the presence of a black person or persons, most probably a black slave.

Of a different opinion is my friend and Arabic expert, Frans X. Cassar. Cassar traces the origins of this word to Arabic. He explained to me that it could even be a word deriving from the Arab dialect of Egypt. This word may be the plural of a four consonant word such as ‘magret’  or 'maqret'. The way how  the 'g' and ‘q’ alternate in different Arabic dialects makes the establishment of the origins and meaning of this word difficult to ascertain with certainty. But if this analysis is correct, this can be another indication of the movement of people that took place in Malta more than 1000 years ago. Back then, Malta was being reached by various Arab people from different parts of North Africa and the Middle East. Maltese Arabic nomenclature points out to a well populated island during Arab times.

Whatever the origins of this place-name, this hospital today offers very good services for acute cases. Despite its bad and disastrous historical reputation, San Vinċenz is today one of the best places in Malta for the care of the sick. It is rebuilding its good reputation thanks to the work of nurses and staff who dedicate care and energy to the patients. Even if there are two categories of nurses, those employed with the government and those by a private contractor, the service of the two does not differ. Those employed with the Government are dedicated personnel, who are having a positive influence on the staff employed by private contractors, even though the latter are paid less than those in Government employment.

This has to be stated because normally there is criticism of services offered by the Government. And I am here not referring to partisan personnel coming from whichever party is in government but I refer to the regular employees who give their services with passion and dedication.

I am not so convinced about private-public partnership agreements. I have already written about my father’s  experience, who was in a home where the facilities are operated  by a private contractor in partnership with government. As a family, we have had a bitter experience. Incidentally, I am told that  genuine complaints, about the services in this old people’s home, are  being  aired even on Super One.  

Unfortunately, structures like St Vincent de Paule have often been victims of political ploys. It has now become a recurrent strategy that if someone eyes a lucrative source for business which is still in government’s hands, there is first the running down of the set-up through one or more of the following procedures: the appointment of incompetent managers or employees, the holding back of adequate funds or leaving the structure without sufficient employees. The end result will be that the structure falls into a state of dilapidation.

There then follows an orchestrated propaganda campaign. People start complaining and, following a long debate,  the decision is taken to transfer the institution into private hands, on the premise that the private sector can do the job better than the government! In the long run, the results are not always satisfactory. I wish to stress that I am here speaking from experience and not through gossip.

In fact, one of the areas that is not functioning well at St Vincent de Paule is the one which is run by a private contractor. I am here referring to food. In the past St  Vincent de Paule had its own kitchen. This was closed down because there was abuse and I do not doubt this. The catering was given to a private contractor. Nurses who remember the time when the hospital food was prepared by the hospital staff, will tell you  that quality was by far superior. I don’t know how much money government is spending now by giving the catering to private hands but it is not the patient who is benefitting.

I know of individuals, who had family members sharing the same ward as my mother, complaining to  Customer Care about the food in hand. I am stating this in order for the authorities concerned to  take note, for this is an area that definitely needs improvement. I feel sorry  for those patients whose family members cannot prepare them food and bring it to the hospital for their loved ones.

I will close this article by again thanking all the staff in St Francis Ward for the patience and dedication  they showed towards my mother. I know that patients can be difficult sometimes. Staff have to often work under pressure yet even, when they were short-staffed, the personnel always maintained a caring spirit. The government staff and the senior staff working for private contractors are proving to be  a good role model for new comers and despite its previous  negative reputation, I can only reiterate that St Vincent de Paule is one of the best places for looking after our senior citizens, in particular, those who, like my mother, ended up bed ridden.