Mater Dei hospital has started increasing the number of outpatient cases it treats as part of efforts to resume some normal operations in the COVID-19 era, CEO Celia Falzon has confirmed.

Despite the coronavirus threat, certain patients are facing a greater health risk if they fail to treat their chronic conditions, Falzon has warned.

The hospital had postponed all non-urgent surgeries in March to shift the focus onto the coronavirus outbreak. While also still dealing with the pandemic, the hospital has again changed its approach to ensure those with other serious conditions get the treatment they need.

“When coronavirus hit, we had to shut down everything to try to contain it. But then you cannot delay certain care for other conditions for much longer than two to three months,” Falzon told Times of Malta in an interview.

“We know that patients who have certain symptoms need to be seen and they need to be treated. Cases that weren’t really that urgent three months ago are now urgent… and so we have to deal with them.”

While the hospital is still prioritising the more urgent cases, it is now widening its criteria to include more patients, especially if they had not been receiving any treatment in recent months.

But as patients continue to be bombarded with coronavirus-related issues, enticing them back to get hospital treatment is no easy feat. Falzon admitted some patients have been reluctant to seek treatment because they worry they might contract the virus while in hospital, though she fears such a mentality could be more tragic.

“Although coronavirus is a serious condition and is sometimes fatal, there are many, many, many other serious conditions which are also fatal.

“Heart conditions are fatal and they do leave a serious impact on your life, if not cared for properly. Cancer too is fatal. So, you cannot ignore symptoms that need to be treated,” the CEO insisted.

While acknowledging the reality that going to hospital carries a certain amount of risk, failing to treat serious illnesses carries “at least as much risk, if not a greater risk”.

Hospital clinicians, she said, evaluate patients’ situations on a case-by-case basis and carry out risk assessments to provide the best possible options and care best-suited for every individual.

‘Coronavirus is not going away’

The CEO is also encouraging patients to accept the new realities brought about by the pandemic, especially given the likelihood that “coronavirus is not going to go away”.

“We need to learn how to live our normal life with coronavirus. Because as we’ve seen, we shut down and the numbers will obviously go down, but the minute you open even a little bit, the numbers start to change again.

Cases that weren’t really that urgent three months ago are now urgent

“And this is happening not just in Malta but everywhere else. This is a reality we have to face up to and accept,” Falzon said.

While in recent weeks, the public has been increasingly urged to accept and adapt to the so-called ‘new normal’, a spike in the number of daily cases over the past few days has sparked concern it was too early to even think about the future.

The fear of going to hospital has been further compounded by the fact that a number of new cases were registered at Mater Dei.

Celia Falzon (left) at a news conference with health superintendent Charmaine Gauci at the start of the coronavirus outbreak.

So is it safe to leave home and go to hospital?

The CEO believes it is. While acknowledging a cluster of COVID-19 cases has been registered at the ENT ward in recent days and also that a number of Malta’s positive cases were healthcare workers, the situation at the hospital is not in any way out of control, she insisted.

“The reality is that the hospital remains a community and community infection control is tricky. But, at the same time, there have not been any instances of patients or staff getting it from known COVID-19 cases,” Falzon said, pointing out there are good infection control protocols in place at Mater Dei.

On the cluster of cases from the Mater Dei ward registered in the past days, Falzon said the issue is a “learning curve” since it is the first time this has happened since the start of the pandemic.

“We’re trying to establish why this happened because it didn’t happen in other instances in terms of the number of infected people. This is a very particular case. Keep in mind that contact tracing is not a mathematical equation which gives you the answers, so there can be gaps.”

And although the day-to-day running of a hospital like Mater Dei is never easy, managing a global pandemic brings about unprecedented challenges. While Falzon said she has no qualms taking tough decisions, she struggled with the decision to put a stop to visiting hours.

“It bothers me because, especially for patients who are very ill, there’s a fine line, patients are involved. If you allow family members in, you’re potentially putting other patients at risk. If patients are seriously ill, then you might be putting their lives at risk.

“And yet for me, it’s very difficult to think of a situation where a person is dying and doesn’t have family members near. It’s a hard one for me but you have to do it,” said a visibly emotional Falzon, who was only appointed to the post last January.

Thanking the public for their cooperation, Falzon also heaped praise on the hospital staff who are always “truly passionate” in what they do.

“I’m sure we made a couple of mistakes but all the professionals rose up to the occasion. Wherever you go here, you see smiles. I think this is phenomenal, it really, really is. It has been truly inspiring.”