A Mater Dei Hospital plan will see an increase in beds, a drive to reduce waiting times at the emergency department and the relocation of some services.
Some measures in that plan are set to be implemented in the coming weeks while others will come to fruition in the coming years, Health Minister Jo Etienne Abela pledged, as the general hospital continues to feel the strain of excessive demand and limited resources.
One measure set to begin operating in the “coming weeks” is a telemedicine hotline to try to cut down numbers at the emergency department. Patients may call the number - 1400 - before going to Mater Dei hospital.
After hearing a patient’s symptoms and history, a doctor on the line will advise the patient where to receive treatment best.
This means a number of patients would be rerouted to local health centres instead of Mater Dei's emergency department.
“Of course, anyone with grievous injuries should go to Mater Dei, not just call,” the minister said.
The government will run an information campaign to promote the hotline.
The government also plans to decrease emergency room waiting times by outsourcing less critical cases to private hospitals.
Rules that require third country nationals to have private health insurance for their first year living in Malta will also be enforced. That means that non-EU workers will be unable to get free-at-the-point-of-use healthcare for their first 12 months of residency.
In the long term, Mater Dei’s emergency wing will expand both in height and width. Once completed, the emergency department will have 70 cubicles, up from 30.
Abela said the emergency department plan will cost the government over €17 million and accommodate Malta’s needs for the next 20 years.
Bed space increase
Abela wants to increase Mater Dei’s bed space by 600 and increase the number of operating theatres. Currently, the hospital has around 1,200 beds.
Many of the hospital's 120 administrative staff will be moved to offices outside the MDH grounds and into offices in nearby Swatar. Administrative staff are set to move from the hospital in the “coming weeks,” he said.
That move will make way for two new wards, Abela said.
Disinfecting medical tools will also be moved from MDH, he said, to make way for beds and operating theatres. Space used for storing physical files will be cleared up through digitalisation, he said.
The government also wants to refurbish and rebuild St Luke’s Hospital and move services currently provided at MDH.
These include day surgeries, outpatient services, and the dental department, he said.
The medical and nurses school will also move to St Luke’s hospital, he said.
The health minister also plans to increase bed capacity at the Intensive Therapy Unit from 20 to 28 beds.
That will be done by “cannibalising” conference rooms.