MUMN has said in a statement this morning that the “health sector in Malta is not in a position to support any influx of patients from any country to Mater Dei Hospital. The Government of Malta has to keep in mind the welfare of the nation and does not resort to decisions just to please the international community.”

“With a health sector as in Malta

1) Where Maltese patients are left on a stretcher since no beds are available in Mater Dei Hospital.

2) Where patients are being nursed in hospital corridors where no toilet and hand washing facilities exist.

3) Where the state of the art hospital is even not sufficient to the Maltese population.

4) Where there is a great shortage of nurses in all government hospitals.

5) Where patients dignity and privacy is not being observed due to overcrowding.

6) Where the country has huge waiting lists in both operational and investigative procedures . 7) Where no adequate community nursing care exists in the country.

8) Where there are insufficient beds in Intensive Care, in medical wards and surgical wards.

9) Where there are huge waiting lists of out of stock lists of drugs and vital disposable equipment

10) Where there is only one acute general hospital for the whole population,” the statement said.

“It would be highly inappropriate,” MUMN stated, “to offer health care services when such problems already exist in our small country. MUMN believes that bigger countries with bigger health care facilities are to address such problems. In fact countries such as The United States of America have huge hospital ships which can take up more than 900 patients and are even better equipped than Mater Dei Hospital. The Maltese population and the nurses, are already doing huge sacrifices due to short falls which occurred when planning of Mater Dei hospital occurred. In the two years which Mater Dei Hospital has been operating, three corridor areas which should have never taken in patients have been opened. Patients are being nursed in such areas against all principles of aseptic techniques, against all principles of infection control, against all principles of nursing practices and where the dignity and the privacy of the patients in such areas does not exist.”

MUMN said that “the government used to boast that Mater Dei hospital will be a show case on how modern hospitals should be run but we are all aware today that was a funny statement with serious implications to the Maltese citizens. MUMN will not allow that additional beds to be placed in the existing Mater Dei/ SVPR wards which even today such wards have no adequate nursing staffing levels. MUMN has not been consulted in any way on the Government intentions or the contingency plans (if they exist) which are to be implemented in case of a huge influx of patients arriving at our shores. In the meantime MUMN is noticing that areas within Mater Dei Hospital which are not equipped to hold patients are being cleared with loads of rumors running in Mater Dei Hospital. That is not the approach the government is to adopt since then the nurses will not be used as the sacrificial lamb in a political saga.”

MUMN concluded, “that it will support nurses who will refuse to nurse patients in corridors making nursing an impossible task similar to third world countries. This statement is being issued in the light that certain Maltese politicians tend to see foreign affairs as being more important for their own personal interest and therefore would not be capable to expose the huge limitations which the health sector in Malta is passing through at the detriment of all Maltese who need such an essential service.”

Permalink: Health sector can’t support influx of foreign patients – MUMN