Mater Dei revamps patient care towards quicker responses for critical cases

Patient treatment plans at Mater Dei have been revamped, geared towards quicker responses for critical patients.

Under the revised system, every patient will be assessed by a specialist using an early warning score that grades their condition. If a patient scores above a certain number, the hospital's rapid response team will be alerted.

The rapid response team brings together specialists from various departments who assess the patient to ensure their condition does not worsen.

Announcing the new system on Monday, Health Minister Jo Etienne Abela explained that all patients admitted to Mater Dei will now receive a "personalised treatment plan", drafted by specialists assigned to them.

The plan is intended to prevent patients from deteriorating as quickly as possible, Abela said, describing the revamped procedures as a "living" system that adapts to the patient's changing condition.

The new treatment plans are being referred to as "treatment escalation plans".

“This may not cost a lot of money, but when you speak to patients, this makes a big difference in the way that patients receive treatment,” the minister said.

"This is a plan that should help Mater Dei to stop the process of deterioration of our patients."

He said plans were underway to implement the same system at Gozo General Hospital.

Abela added that the system cannot guarantee positive outcomes in every case and that patients may respond differently to treatment.

“However, there will be patients, despite these functioning systems, who will not respond as we would like to every treatment they receive”, he said.

The health minister said the system was “the fruit of a lot of hard work and research,” and thanked staff involved in its rollout, including Dr Beatrice Farrugia, Dr James Clark, Dr Agnes Portelli and Duncan Briffa, a practice nurse for the rapid response team.