Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1324024
7 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 3 JANUARY 2021 NEWS JAMES DEBONO ONE in four medical prescriptions an- alysed in study published in the Malta Medical Journal, are written in poorly legible handwriting. Doctors' reputation for poor hand- writing has been officially confirmed by a study that found 25% of prescriptions written by 166 participants to be poorly legible. Poor handwriting is a considered as a major problem in healthcare as these can endanger the health of patients while contributing to lawsuits in cases of neg- ligence. The Institute of Medicine in the United States (IoM) reported that 7,000 annual deaths are attributable to illegible hand- writing by medical professionals. In the Malta study, 137 medical stu- dents in the third to the fifth year of studies, and 29 doctors of varying grades from Foundation to consultant level, were asked to complete a pre-prepared prescription, including five medications onto a standard hospital prescription chart. No significant differences were found between doctors and students when it came to hand writing quality. Every participant's handwriting was graded using a standard score, cross- checked by two researchers and a further 3 independent assessors. 25% of participants had print-quality handwriting and 50% had clearly legible handwriting. Only 3% had barely legible handwriting but 22% had "moderately legible" handwriting. 9% of the participants had actually de- clared having had handwriting training. Furthermore, participants were them- selves asked to adjudicate their own handwriting and 23% admitted to hav- ing made an effort and filled in the study forms using handwriting that was superi- or to their norm, whereas 12% felt their writing was worse than usual. The majority of participants reported being "very" (36%) or "quite bothered" (42%) by the legibility of colleagues' handwriting, with 6% reporting that they were "hardly bothered" or "not bothered at all". On questioning, 78% admitted to be- ing concerned with poor handwriting in the healthcare work environment. In the event that participants had difficulty reading a prescription due to poor hand- writing, 88% of participants reported that they would ask colleagues for help. Possible solutions to the problem men- tioned in the article include penmanship classes, the use of self-inking stamps to heighten prescribers' awareness and traceability, the use of computer-gen- erated prescribing, voice activating sys- tems and, routine training for medical students. The study was authored by medical doctors Yimeng Zhang, Nicole Zera- fa, and Simon Attard Montalto. Doctors' scribbled prescriptions under scrutiny "I'll be as unclear as possible..." - doctors' reputation for poor handwriting has been officially confirmed by a study that found 25% of prescriptions written by 166 participants to be poorly legible MATTHEW VELLA A court of criminal appeal has confirmed an €800 fine against Dierdre Nyasa Rolfe Hornyold-Strickland, over a quarrel in 2018 with an employee of the Strickland Foundation. The Foundation – the largest share- holder in Allied Newspapers – has been in a long-time feud with Robert Hornyold-Strickland, the second largest shareholder, over the possession of Villa Parisio in Lija. Hornyold-Strickland insists his late aunt Mabel Strickland – daughter of Lord Ger- ald Strickland – was persuaded to change her will in 1979 by her testamentary exec- utors, the late Prof. Guido de Marco and Prof. Joseph Ganado, while he was living in England, to leave the Lija stately home to the Foundation she set up to run the Times of Malta. The Stricklands, who have taken pos- session of a few rooms at the villa, have often had altercations with the Founda- tion's representatives who equally have pretensions over the villa as the seat of the Foundation. Civil proceedings against the Strickland Foundation concerning the ownership of the property are still on- going. On 28 September 2015, at around 11:30am, Dierdre Hornyold-Strickland filed a report at the Birkirkara police sta- tion claiming that she had been frightened by John Cachia, a gardener employed by the Foundation, when he entered her house without her consent. Cachia was removing pieces of cloth that the Strick- lands had placed on the CCTV cameras installed by the Foundation around the villa. Acting on instructions of the Founda- tion, Cachia filed his own police report against the Stricklands after his access to other parts of the property and the gar- dens was blocked by a padlock affixed to the gate by the Stricklands. In its first judgement, the Court of Mag- istrates declared that Hornyold-Strick- land had committed the arbitrary exercise of a pretended right. Basing its findings on the version of facts as provided by Peter Paul Portelli, on behalf of the Strickland Foundation, the Court believed his and Cachia's evidence to be more credible. "There is no doubt that the appellant is pretending a right over the property at is- sue. She clearly considers the villa as her home and she claimed that she acted the way she did only to secure her home as well as her husband's and her rights in relation to the villa and surrounding and adjacent gardens according to the wills of the Honourable late Mabel Strickland," the Appeals judge Aaron Bugeja said. But since the matter was a criminal appeal, and not a civil case, the rights of access enjoyed by Cachia as delegated to him by the Foundation – which is still the legal occupant of the villa bequeathed by Mabel Strickland – were undisputed. "The evidence in this case left no doubt that John Cachia had access to all parts of the Villa and gardens as an employee of the Strickland Foundation, specifical- ly deployed to take care of the gardening and maintenance works necessary. "When the appellant decided to change the padlock without providing a key to John Cachia and/or the Strickland Foun- dation she deprived him from the free exercise of the rights conferred upon him by the owner of the tenements, in order for him to conduct his duties towards the Strickland Foundation." The judge declared that Hornyold-Strickland had taken matters into her own hands – instead of legal ac- tion – by depriving Cachia from accessing the property. The Hornyold-Stricklands have been engaged in a court battle with the sons of Guido De Marco and Joseph Ganado – Mario de Marco and Max Ganado re- spectively – to release Mabel Strickland's legal files from their possession. They in- sist these papers could prove that his aunt intended him to be the rightful owner of the Foundation's 78% shareholding in Al- lied Newspapers. The Court of Appeal has already ruled that all files passed on to the Foundation must be disclosed to the courts and to the heir. In her will, Mabel Strickland also be- queathed her Villa Parisio in Lija to the Foundation and granted Hornyold-Strick- land "the right of use and habitation of the guests' rooms with bathroom and study at Villa Parisio, provided that the enjoyment of such right shall in no way interfere with the work of the foundation." But Hornyold-Strickland insists that his rights extend to all the rooms in the villa and wants the court to order the Founda- tion to grant him possession of all these rooms. The Foundation claims the will limits him to just the guest rooms. In Strickland feud, heirs' gardener tiff costs them €800 fine Dierdre Hornyold-Strickland and husband Robert: the Strickland Foundation installed CCTV in the house they claim is theirs by right