Bad blood between the government and nursing union must be resolved “immediately” before elderly people end up paying the price, the Office of the Commissioner for Older Persons has warned.

Commissioner Godfrey La Ferla flagged the concern in a statement urging stakeholders to speed up transfers of hospitalized senior citizens who need to move into long-term care, noting that any delays would lead to valuable hospital beds being taken up by people awaiting transfers.

The commissioner noted the significantly deteriorated relationship between the Health and Active Ageing Ministries on one hand, and the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses on the other.

Tensions between the two dramatically increased following the disappearance and death of Carmelo Fino, an elderly man who walked out of state care home St Vincent de Paul last summer due to lax security procedures.

A number of carers and nurses were suspended following that incident, prompting the MUMN to leap to their defence.

Commissioner La Ferla fears that tensions between the two are leading to the care of senior citizens being used as a “bargaining chip”. That, he said, was unacceptable irrespective of the circumstances.

La Ferla’s major concern is that it is taking a long time to refer senior citizens into community care after they are discharged from Mater Dei Hospital.

A “not insignificant” number of such patients admitted for acute treatment are unable to return home following their hospital stay, he said, and are therefore referred to homes for long-term care.

Any delays in transferring them to such homes, he said, penalised the patients while also causing backlogs at Mater Dei Hospital at a time when the number of acute cases requiring hospital treatment rises.

“Unless acute beds are instantly available, long queues quickly develop in the Accident and Emergency Department. This inevitably  leads to delays in treatment, bed availability problems and subsequent cancellation of surgical operations,” La Ferla said.

He urged the government and MUMN to set aside their differences and thrash things out, in the national interest.

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