The role of nurses should preferably not be filled by care-workers and if this happens, it should only be a temporary measure, according to Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses (MUMN) General Secretary Colin Galea.

Galea was speaking to The Malta Independent on Sunday following an interview with Health Minister Chris Fearne that appeared in our sister daily newspaper last Wednesday, in which the Minister referred to the difficulty in finding sufficient numbers of nurses for employment. Fearne was questioned about the shortage of nurses following an incident earlier this month at Mount Carmel Hospital in which a patient was found dead after he left the hospital through a bathroom window. Hospital sources told the local media that, had more staff been on duty, the incident could have possibly been avoided.

Galea sees the nurse shortage as problematic and one of the factors needed to be considered for Mount Carmel Hospital to be on a par with Mater Dei, something that Fearne has said will happen by 2023. Galea explained that discussions are currently underway with Permanent Secretary for Health Joseph Rapa.

"At the moment, there are discussions underway to see how the number of nurses can be increased and whether there is need for foreign nurses to be brought in," Galea told this newspaper. "It cannot be that patients are left unattended. If there is supposed to be a nurse, then that nurse should not be replaced by a care worker, because specific skills are required."

Galea said that if a care worker stands in for a nurse, it should be "temporary, until nurses are brought in from abroad, but these things take time." He revealed that the subject is being discussed with all the hospital's nurses and the conclusions will be passed on to Rapa this week.

The MUMN General Secretary went on to say that the nurse-to-patient ratio is also being discussed, as the current one was set 15 years ago. "Now everything has evolved and more nurses are needed per patient," he said.

He also said that in order to improve the situation at Mount Carmel Hospital, patients should be allocated rooms according to their condition. The lack of this separation has, in the past, ended in incidents that could have been avoided, had a separate room arrangement been in place. "In the past," he said, "we have had incidents where - for example - someone suffering from drug addiction has stolen drugs provided to a patient suffering from depression."

 

'Shocked' at state of Mount Carmel hall

A 'robust refurbishment' of Mount Carmel is another problem that requires urgent attention in order for the two hospitals to be on a par, Galea believes.

"We visit the hospital, so we see things at first hand," he said, before going on to explain the condition of it. He described the halls reported as 'dangerous' in the media, highlighting issues with the ceiling and the metal column supports, along with crowded rooms. He went on to praise the handling of the patient transfers until rooms are refurbished.

"Apart from these factors, there are three particular halls - 3A, 3B and another stand-alone hall outside the hospital called MITU - which are in a very bad state. They have been like this under several governments, and no one has taken any notice. And there are other halls as well that are not so bad but also need a lot of attention."

Describing MITU, Galea said that the patients stay in a corridor that measures about eight by four metres and looks as if it dates back to the 'war years'. "Hardly anything makes much impression on me, but I was really shocked by this hall," he said.

During the interview with this newsroom last week, Fearne also said that funding for refurbishment work will increase from half a million euros to about five or six million in the coming months before the work is completed.

Reacting to this, Galea said: "We are happy that increased funding is being provided for refurbishment because it cannot be that there's just one contractor who takes a while to finish something and then begins working on something else. Hopefully, with these funds, as many contractors as needed come so that work on certain halls will be completed more quickly."

MAM-government agreement will cover future potential privatisation of psychiatric services

Reacting to the investment announced by the Health Minister, Medical Association of Malta General Secretary Martin Balzan agreed with the need for investment in the infrastructure of Mount Carmel Hospital, as well as the further development of services offered by the hospital.

He said that the agreement with the government will cover any future potential privatisation of psychiatric services. "Since one of the possibilities for privatisation in the future is psychiatric services, this will be covered by the agreement that we are currently negotiating with the government," said Balzan.

Questions regarding the possibility of privatisation of psychiatric services were sent to the Health Minister but answers had not been received at the time of going to print.