Simply expanding the emergency department will not solve space issues at Mater Dei Hospital, unless it is coupled with a significant increase in beds across other wards, the president of the doctors’ association has warned.

Martin Balzan, head of the Medical Association of Malta, praised the government’s plan to double the size of the emergency unit. But he warned that patients would still be forced to wait for a bed to be freed in another hospital ward if they require further treatment. 

“It’s like widening one end of a road while leaving narrow access at the other end – it inevitably creates a bottleneck,” he said.

He said the expansion of the emergency unit will only be immediately effective if coupled with a significant increase in the number of beds across the rest of the hospital.

Martin Balzan said the new minister is proactive, well-intentioned and enthusiastic to address the most pressing issues. Photos: Jonathan Borg/Karl Andrew Micallef

“I like it that the minister is being proactive and is addressing the issues but the issue of space is a problem across the entire hospital, not just at the emergency department,” he said.

“The minister already informed us he intends to increase space across other wards too but, unless both exercises are done at par with each other, people will feel little difference.

“Hardly anything would have changed if patients were to be examined without delay at the emergency department, only to then have to wait anyway for a bed to be vacated in some other ward.”

Balzan was reacting to a Times of Malta interview on Sunday, in which newly-appointed Health Minister Jo Etienne Abela explained preparation work had begun to expand the overcrowded emergency department to house double the number of beds it has now, in the hope of drastically shortening waiting times, which patients say sometimes stretch to longer than 12 hours.

Abela also wants to transfer Mater Dei’s entire outpatients’ and day surgery departments to a newly refurbished and upgraded St Luke’s Hospital, freeing up much needed space at the overcrowded main hospital in Tal-Qroqq.

An artist’s impression of the expansion of Mater Dei’s emergency department and the new acute psychiatry unit. Photo: Health Ministry

Balzan said the expansion of the emergency department is relatively easy, as it could spread over the parking area adjacent to the existing unit, but transforming other wards to serve a new purpose is more challenging.

He has faith in Abela, however, whom he describes as proactive, well-intentioned and sincerely geared to improve the healthcare system and enthusiastic to tackle tough issues.

“He needs to make up for 10 years during which the population shot up and life expectancy increased while healthcare infrastructure remained largely as it was a decade ago,” he said.

“Demand increased drastically but supply did not follow at a sufficient pace.”

Abela, who replaced Chris Fearne in a surprise cabinet reshuffle in January, also announced last week that the government has changed its mind over the long-promised standalone mental health hospital. It will now build an acute psychiatry unit within Mater Dei, which he said was more appropriate and less stigmatising, according to experts.

He is also planning to re-introduce helipads at Mater Dei and the Gozo hospitals, is in the process of buying new MRI and CT scanners and has begun preparations to renovate Pietà’s St Luke’s and Karin Grech hospitals.