Relatives of elderly patients moved from hospital to a hotel in Gozo are asking a series of questions that must be answered by the Social Care Standards Authority in its inquiry, Arnold Cassola has said.
The former Alternattiva Demokratika leader instigated the investigation of the move following a report in Times of Maltaabout the distress some relatives felt over the “claustrophobic” conditions of the Downtown Hotel in Victoria.
Former patients at the geriatric wing of the Gozo General Hospital were moved there a few days ago to prepare the wing for potential COVID-19 patients.
Times of Malta revealed that owners of the hotel will receive €1.6m for the year-long deal.
“Does a wardrobe/cupboard fit in the room for the elderly to keep their personal items and clothes? Are there armchairs in the room, where the residents can sit during the day? Where is the space for a lifter to lift bed-ridden persons?” were some of the questions quoted by Cassola in a Facebook post on Saturday.
“Does a stretcher fit into the narrow corridors and the lift? Is the common lounge on ground floor accessible to residents with a disability? Or are the residents expected to spend most of the day in bed? How are the corpses of the deceased being transported downstairs from the upper storeys?”
Cassola also posted plans of the hotel, many of whose rooms measure around four by three metres or even less, he said.
In a separate post, he asked whether the Planning Authority had granted the hotel permission to change its use to a nursing home.
He welcomed the inquiry and said that if the answers to these questions were positive, then “the structure would be OK”.
What would be left then would be another investigation to find out why a direct order was given to the hotel, he added.
The government has cited the urgency of the move as being one of the main reasons for the hotel being contracted by “negotiated procedure” rather than after a call for tenders.
It is paying the owners more than €54 per bed, per day, a price which includes hospital bed installation and new wiring but not staffing, food and other requirements.
