Health parliamentary secretary Chris Fearne said relatives of the elderly woman who died in a corridor at Mater Dei Hospital on Monday night told him hospital staff did all they could to save her life using the necessary equipment.

“The elderly woman’s relatives wished to put people’s minds at rest that Mater Dei Hospital has all the necessary equipment to save people’s lives,” he said, adding that one of the relatives had witnessed this. This could not be verified independently since various efforts to contact the relatives have been unsuccessful.

Times of Malta even asked the spokesman of Dr Fearne to ask the relatives if they were willing to speak to this newspaper, remaining anonymous if necessary.

But the spokesman said the relatives had made it clear they did not want to speak to the media and wanted to be left to mourn their loved one in peace without entering political controversies.

The woman’s death was raised on Tuesday by the shadow minister for health Claudette Buttigieg during a press conference.

She claimed the equipment needed to save the woman’s life was not available in the corridor, which links the Emergency Department to the Medical Imaging section. She said there was no doubt that doctors and paramedics had done all they could to save the woman’s life but they did not have the equipment they needed.

Mater Dei chief executive Ivan Falzon and clinical director Joseph Zarb Adami confirmed that the woman was being treated in the corridor but said all medical equipment was available. The patient was given all treatment according to established procedures, including CPR. The hospital was investigating her death.

Yesterday Dr Fearne said he had held a meeting with concerned relatives of patients and met the relatives of this woman.