Communicating with Mater Dei Hospital
Mater Dei Hospital must certainly rank among the best in Europe in terms of the professionality of its medical and nursing staff. At that level its care is close to the best that any citizen might wish to have from a national health service.
Where, however, it fails abysmally is in the quality of its outside-to-inside telephonic communicating set-up. Let me quote persistent similar experiences:
One dials 2545 0000, which is the hospital’s central telephone line. The call does get through (because you get a curt “Sptar Mater Dei” answer). You start waiting and after repeated “Your call is in the waiting line” replies, the central line operator eventually answers you. You request to be connected to some department or other (I will not mention names to be prudent), the central line operator makes the link and here is where one is in for a real saga.
The phone/s in the departments ring, and ring and ring… the ringing eventually even switches to that old fax squeaking tone and, meanwhile, the citizen/patient has not yet spoken to anyone who can provide him with answers or some form of service.
I have, over the last few days, been through this harrowing experience at least on two whole mornings.
Might I modestly suggest to the minister of health that some of the money coming from the EU be positively used to ensure a total overhaul of this present telephonic set-up. As said, the medical care is simply excellent but the communicating with the people who can provide it, or their departmental staffs, is simply lousy.
Action please.
John Consiglio – Birkirkara
St John’s Co-Cathedral
This year marks the 20th anniversary from the establishment of St John’s Co-Cathedral Foundation.
Much has been achieved in such a short time.
I am sure that much more needs to be done but, attending any grand and official function, one can appreciate what has taken place during these two decades.
Therefore, in my name and that of all true Maltese, I would like to say good show and congratulations to the members of the foundation.
Keep up the good work. The results achieved speak for themselves.
Frans Said – St Paul’s Bay
Vain role models
Thank goodness that there are still many people sensible enough to see how disastrous it would be for the world for us to model our lives on those of ‘celebrities’ (September 17).
A more vain, self-centred, self-indulgent bunch of people it would surely be difficult to find, whose self-righteousness exceeds even that of the Scribes and Pharisees towards those who fail to agree with them.
Surely, the existence of God can be neither proved nor disproved. But those who believe that their conduct will be judged by a higher standard than today’s passing fashions are more likely to strive for self-sacrifice rather than ‘celebrity’.
Few atheists seem to have shown such dedication or self-forgetfulness.
Alan Cooke – Sliema
The atheist insomniac
All the discussion in this newspaper’s pages regarding religion and atheism reminds me of the tale of the agnostic dyslexic insomniac, who lay awake all night wondering if there was a dog.
Terry Bate - Għajnsielem
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