St Thomas and Boffa hospitals are both full up and cannot take any more COVID-19 cases, a situation that is putting even more pressure on Mater Dei Hospital and raising concern among nurses.
In comments to Times of Malta, Paul Pace, the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses chief, said there is growing concern among healthcare professionals that the COVID-19 situation in hospitals is getting out of hand.
With St Thomas and Boffa full up, Pace said patients requiring hospital care can only be taken to Mater Dei. As of Sunday, there were at least six wards that had to be taken up to be used for coronavirus patients. And the growing number of patients in critical care at the hospital’s ITU is making things worse.
“There are 15 patients at the ITU and those are just the ones with COVID-19.
“There are other patients who also require treatment at the ITU,” Pace said.
“Nobody is saying this but the hospital situation is getting out of hand.”
Though the majority of the patients at St Thomas and Boffa hospitals are doing well, some did require more attention as their condition worsened.
The health authorities have started to prioritise certain cases over others when admitting patients to the ITU, informed sources said.
Earlier in the pandemic, the authorities said they had enough beds for anyone who needed even a little extra care. It is believed this is no longer the case.
The nurses’ union yesterday urged the public to follow the COVID-19 mitigation measures so the country would not have to go into lockdown.
Hospitals situation in numbers
Of the 1,880 active cases, 83 patients are hospitalised. These include 22 patients at Boffa Hospital and 14 patients at St Thomas Hospital.
Fifteen patients are in intensive care, eight at the Infectious Diseases Unit and the rest in other wards at Mater Dei Hospital.
“As stated in various instances, Mater Dei Hospital is well equipped for COVID-19 as coronavirus beds can go up to 200 (excluding ITU).
“In regard to intensive care, at Mater Dei Hospital we have four new COVID ITUs, with the number of ITU beds able to go up to 115,” the health ministry told Times of Malta.