The recently-completed modernisation and upgrading works carried out at the male and female general wards together with the staff dining room at the Gozo General Hospital were inaugurated yesterday by Gozo Minister Giovanna Debono.

Works carried out at the wards included the replacement of the vinyl floor lining, the replacement of apertures which have now been installed with reflective glass for better insulation and energy saving, the addition of electrical and low-voltage services, together with the installation of bed-head trunking, which now provide for the supply of medical gases and other services directly to each bed.

The new headboards have also been serviced with an advanced communication system which will eventually provide each bed with separate access to telephone, television and internet services. These works follow other general decorative works that were carried out in recent years. The male and female general ward project involved the investment of around Lm100,000 (EUR232,937).

The dining room project follows the complete upgrading of the hospital catering system that included the introduction of the pre-plating system, resulting in the delivery of hot and cold plates of an adequate temperature directly on a tray to the patient in the different wards. The work involved the removal of the previous false ceiling and roofing which was replaced by new roof cladding and a new false ceiling as well as tiling, plastering and painting works, the upgrading of sanitary facilities and an improved general look.

Speaking during the inauguration, Minister Debono said the upgrading of more wards and hospital areas were confirmation of the government’s commitment to the improvement of the health sector in Gozo for the benefit of patients in Gozo. Since the year 2000, the government has invested around Lm2m (EUR4.6m) on capital improvement for the Gozo General Hospital.

Mrs Debono said that priority has been given to patient areas, citing upgrading and modernisation works carried out in the Male Elderly Ward, the Residenza Sant’Anna, the Maternity Ward, the Pediatrics’ Ward, the Emergency Department and the Out Patients Department, while new sections were set up to improve the quality of service offered by the hospital.

Minister Debono referred to the ministry’s upcoming projects that will substantially improve the quality health service offered in Gozo. The projects, tenders for which have already started being issued, include the complete upgrading of the second operating theatre and the setting up of a radiology unit that will include new medical services currently not available in Gozo.