Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1527317
5 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 2 OCTOBER 2024 NEWS Ralph de La Torre held in contempt for refusing to testify about Steward's financial troubles CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 "Mr Mangion described the pain in the morning as burning. He took Ome- prazole and felt better. He thought that it could be stomach acid. Now it was no longer burning and was worse with movement," the report reads. Here, Mangion was advised to go to the Floriana Health Centre, and upon arriving, he was registered and "was seen straight away and he did not wait in any queue." The report found that one day before Mangion's death, the Mater Dei Emer- gency Department had seen a particu- larly large number of people and that this, "always creates a backlog of pa- tients still waiting to be seen from ear- lier shifts. This situation may take 2-3 days to normalise." The report notes Mangion was first seen in Mater Dei at 7:10pm, and that some time after 10:00pm, Mangion had collapsed in a corridor and was prompt- ly helped by medical staff and taken to a resuscitation room on a stretcher. Man- gion was given CPR for 35 minutes, as the report detailed all attempts by med- ical workers to revive him to no avail. A witness told the inquiring board that "understaffing at the emergency department is now the norm," with the witness noting that workers sometimes do not have time for a break throughout an eight-hour-period, "sometimes even for toilet purposes." The report noted that on the day of Mangion's death, only doctors in train- ing were seeing patients at the Floriana Health Centre and the centre's fast- track system was not operational by the time Mangion was present. On Mater Dei Hospital, the inquir- ing board noted that "human resourc- es were not sufficient to keep up with the exceptional workload on the day," explaining that only one senior deci- sion-maker was present in an area with six critically ill patients. The overloaded emergency department was also seen as a contributor to long waiting times and a source of great stress for healthcare professionals. "The work environment is not attract- ing and retaining healthcare profession- als, both doctors and nurses. This has to be addressed from all aspects such as work schedule, pay structures and fami- ly-friendly measures," the report states. The board also noted a lack of uniform- ity in digital documentation, listing ex- amples where one system used in the primary health service is not accessible to emergency department doctors. The ministry expressed condolences to Mangion's family and welcomed the suggestions as part of ongoing health- care reforms. Inquiry concludes no individual was responsible for Mangion's death CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Procedures on the company's bankruptcy remain ongoing, with related criminal proceedings in Malta embroiling former prime minister Joseph Muscat and a raft of ministers, civil servants, and private operators over the alleged fraud when Steward was granted a controversial PPP for three state hospitals. The company is currently seek- ing to sell all of its remaining hos- pitals in America to address its $9 billion debt. The resignation comes short- ly after the United States Senate held de la Torre in contempt of court for refusing to testify in a case involving his company. On Monday, de La Torre sued a U.S. Senate committee which has voted to hold him in contempt for refusing to testify about Stew- ard's financial troubles. De le Torre said in his lawsuit that the contempt vote was an unconstitutional attempt to co- erce his testimony. He seeks a court ruling declaring that he cannot be punished for asserting his Fifth Amendment rights or be compelled to comply with the subpoena. The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions violated de la Torre's right against self-incrimination under the U.S. Constitution's Fifth Amendment by threatening him with "criminal retribution" and "public humiliation," accord- ing to a lawsuit filed Monday in Washington, D.C., federal court. The Senate committee hearing, which probed cost-cutting deci- sions at Steward hospitals, was "simply a device for the Com- mittee to attack Dr. de la Torre and try to publicly humiliate and condemn him," according to the lawsuit. De la Torre declined to testify even after the committee issued a subpoena, saying that answering questions could violate his rights and impede Steward's bankrupt- cy reorganisation. The full Senate voted to hold de la Torre in contempt on Sep- tember 25 for skipping the hear- ing. Democratic and Republican members of the committee said that the testimony highlighted the dangers of allowing private health care companies to priori- tise profits over patients. Ralph de la Torre during his visit to the Steward hospitals in Malta Stephen Mangion