Hospice Malta recently held its 33rd annual general meeting at the President’s Palace in Attard.
In his annual report, Kenneth Delia, CEO of Hospice Malta, gave an in-depth overview of how Hospice has adjusted to new working practices, its investment in IT for patient contact, as well as for contact between Hospice professionals, its continued efforts to ensure efficiency, effectiveness and accessibility, the development and training provided to its team of professionals and care workers and the ongoing and increased use of social media as a means of engagement with both patients and the public.
He then gave a summary of operations, highlighting the growing patient numbers – 1,308 in 2021, who benefitted from around 37,000 sessions through physical and virtual home visits, an increase of five per cent in home visits and 23 per cent in patient online assessments.
A significant increase was also noted in the number of hours provided through Hospice’s dedicated professional care assistants’ service, which nearly doubled from the previous year – more than 17,000 hours of service were delivered at patients’ homes. Free equipment loans from Hospice amounted to 1,678 items, helping patients to remain as comfortable and independent as possible in their own home.
Delia spoke on the importance Hospice places on the quality of service provision.
“Service quality remains one of the most important measures for Hospice. All patients are contacted within 24 hours of their referral, and 89 per cent of our patients receive a home visit by our teams within five working days,” he said.
Treasurer Vladimiro Comodini then presented the audited financial statements for 2021.
During the meeting, chairperson Bernadette Bonnici Kind gave an update on the ongoing works at St Michael Hospice in Santa Venera, while thanking the many public and private entities supporting Hospice and its initiatives. She also announced the launch of the Hospice Honorory Membership programme, whereby the board of governors of Hospice nominated various members, including founder members and former chairpersons, and honoured them for their sterling work and contribution to Hospice throughout the years.
To donate and continue supporting Hospice Malta, go to www.hospicemalta.org.