Ms Cascun said that although the hospital will go through a number of changes, such as the transfer of its location, it would still continue to provide a high quality service of care.

Zammit Clapp Hospital will migrate to its new facility close to St Vincent De Paul – a building that should be completed within four years, said Ms Cascun.

“However, until the new place is built, Zammit Clapp will be transferred to the Karen Grech Department in St Luke’s Hospital,” she said.

At present, Zammit Clapp Hospital has a total of 60 beds, which will increase to 180 once it moves to St Luke’s.

Once the transfer takes place, the hospital will no longer focus on rehabilitation of the elderly but will also include anyone over 18 in need of rehabilitation, Ms Cascun explained.

The hospital’s mission statement declares that the staff will work with patients and their carers, adopt “an interdisciplinary approach, in a high quality atmosphere conducive to learning and continual development, which promotes rehabilitation for the older persons to regain maximal independence for reintegration into society”.

In addition, new staff will have to be employed. However, Ms Cascun pointed out that extra staff alone is not enough to help patients get better.

The delivery of quality care depends on the hospital having the right number of nurses in the right place, at the right time and with the right skills.

At present, there are 58 nurses and 54 nursing aides employed at Zammit Clapp. “With the increase in beds we also need to increase the number of our nursing staff, although I cannot say how many will be needed exactly. Besides those graduating this year, we will also be focusing on nurses who stopped working a number of years ago or had changed careers but might be ready to return to nursing,” she said. The hospital has a recruitment and selection strategy that gives importance to knowledge, skills and attitudes. It includes an induction programme and mentoring of new staff members to enable internalisation of the hospital’s values and cultures and introduces the new recruits to the hospital, its policies and procedures. Zammit Clapp Hospital gives new employees a job description, specifying the roles, responsibilities and scope of authority for the post further ensuring a “fit” between the employee and the hospital in order to reach its goal of quality care delivery.

For those who are currently not practising the profession, a back to nursing course giving a review of nursing practices, will be offered. In addition, they will have the opportunity to attend regular in-service training and monthly presentations on various health topics and follow training sessions in handling and transferring of patients.

“I think we are one of the few hospitals that actually evaluates our results,” she said.

The main aim of Zammit Clapp Hospital is to return the elderly `to the community, said Ms Cascun.

“We try to help them become as independent as possible. In fact, we measure their level of independence when they are admitted to hospital and when they are discharged to know what functional improvement has taken place,” she said.

The patients are also asked to fill in a patient discharge questionnaire that deals with staff behaviour, communication, patient care and the hospital environment. In 2006, 96 per cent of the residents said they were satisfied and 81.3 per cent said their level of independence improved.

“It was of great satisfaction to us that 63 per cent of the patients in 2006 went back to their own home. We had 931 admissions last year, and I am very happy to say that only 25 moved on to St Vincent De Paul,” she said.

Although there is a two-week waiting list for admission to Zammit Clapp, Ms Cascun said the patients stayed at the hospital for an average of 21 days.

Even though patients over 60 can be admitted to Zammit Clapp, in 2006, the average age of the patients was 79, she said.

“We collaborate with the informal carers and offer them, and the patient’s family, training – if needed,” she said.

In cases where it is envisaged that the patient might experience difficulties on discharge, an interdisciplinary team carries out a home visit to the patient’s residence.

“The team will recommend any needed changes to the relatives – such as installing a hand rail in the bathroom, for example,” she said.

Several patients who are discharged need to be followed in the day hospital.

Ms Cascun explained that a patient attending the Day Hospital is assigned to a nurse who follows the patient’s treatment. “The nurse follows up the patient to the extent that if s/he does not turn up for his or her appointment the nurse will call them at home to make sure that everything is ok,” she said.

The hospital also has two community liaison nurses who carry out home visits to ensure that the patients are coping well, she added.

Ms Cascun explained that Zammit Clapp Hospital places a lot of importance on communication.

“We take an inter-disciplinary approach to taking care of the patients. The heads of various departments, such as the physiotherapists, occupational therapists, speech

language pathologists, pharmacists, social workers, doctors and nurses meet once a week to discuss the administrative and clinical needs of the patients and the hospital”, she said.

Furthermore, she added, all members of the interdisciplinary team allocated to a particular ward participate in the ward round and case conferences to ensure that a holistic approach is applied.