MaltaToday previous editions

maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 6 AUGUST 2014 7 News Concern about crime increases threefold CRIME is third on the list of Mal- tese concerns after immigration and unemployment and at par with the economy, a Eurobarometer sur- vey conducted in June reveals. The percentage of respondents who regard crime as one of the two main problems facing the country had risen to 9% in November 2013 from 6% in May that year to 17% last June. For the first time ever concern on crime in Malta has surpassed that in the European Union, where only 12% regarded crime as a major problem facing their country. At a staggering 64% immigration has remained the top concern of the Maltese. The concern in Malta re- mains the highest in Europe. Interestingly concern on immigra- tion went up from 23% in May 2013, before last year's pushback threat, to 63% in November. The level of con- cern has remained the same in the past months despite a sharp drop in arrivals. Concern on energy has continued to decline from 22% in May last year to just 13% now. This coincides with the reduction in energy bills and government plans to shift the de- pendency on oil to natural gas. The percentage of respondents who express concern on unemployment decreased from 17% in May 2013 to 11% in November that year, only to rise again to 19% in June. Concern on crime has also increased by three points since last year. Only 12% regarded unemployment as a top concern in November 2012. The same survey shows that trust in the national government has gone down from 59% last year to 48% in November, only to rise again to 52% in June. Concern on inflation, which topped the list of concerns in No- vember 2012, when 39% mentioned this concern, has plummeted to just 13%. THE Malta Envi- ronment and Plan- ning Authority has issued an enforce- ment order against extensive excava- tion works in the vicinity of a Bronze Age dolmen. The dolmen, con- sidered to be one of the largest ever found in Malta, is located on the road leading from Qren- di to Siggiewi which passes in front of a 'concrete plant' and quarry. Measuring four and a half metres by four metres, the dolmen has a field hut built on it which has a flight of stairs leading to its top. The slab dates back to the Bronze Age (2500-1500 BC) while the hut was built in more modern times. The dolmen stands at the edge of a field, which drops sharply away on its eastern side into a quarry. The extensive illegalities in the dolmen's officially protected buff- er zone include top soil removal, deposit of inert material, illegal landscaping, excavation works, construction of rooms, wall and reservoir, extension of an existing room, gates and concrete f looring. A ramp leading to the quarry has also been illegally constructed and a number of tunnels used as garag- es and stores have been excavated to the southern part of the quarry. The owners who own the quarry have appealed the enforcement ac- tion. In 2009 MEPA had regularised an illegally constructed bound- ary wall around the quarry and the construction of a timber gate despite a recommendation by the Planning Directorate to refuse the permit. JAMES DEBONO 77% of the patients attending the Floriana Health Centre were not handed a file containing their medi- cal records before being examined by a doctor. A total of 529 patient visits were included in a study conducted in September 2013 by medical doctors Jurgen Abela from the Department of Primary Health and Michelle Bugeja from Mater Dei. The standard practice is that as soon as a patient enters the Health Centre the patient is registered at the reception after providing an identification card. His or her file is then retrieved by healthcare assistants in the records, and the patient is provided with a file which the pa- tient presents to the GP during the consultation. Since the Maltese healthcare sys- tem does not yet allow patients to register with their own GP in the health centre and patients are seen each time by a different doc- tor, keeping good patients' medical records is considered vital to ensure proper continuity of care between one doctor and another. The study also found a noticeable difference in the percentage of medi- cal records, which were given to pa- tients in the morning (8a.m to noon) and in the afternoon (noon to 5p.m). According to the study this differ- ence between files handed over in the morning and the afternoon might be attributed to the start of recreational breaks of the healthcare assistants in the afternoon, which leads to fewer staff on the shop floor to register pa- tients, retrieve and distribute medi- cal records. The researchers ensured that there would be different healthcare assist- ants working during the different days of the study to ensure that any results were not linked to the practice of one healthcare assistant only. The study also found that 75% of GPs wrote notes on the patient's file when medical records were pro- vided. The "erratic nature of file avail- ability" could be one of the reasons why 25% of GPs did not write any notes on these files. Other reasons could be lack of appreciation of the importance of keeping good medi- cal records; insufficient space in the file where to write down notes, and fatigue. For the first time concern about crime in Malta has surpassed that in the EU COME & ENJOY A PINA COLADA WITH US! MEGA-CLEARANCE PRICES ON: 6+23',63/$<3+$6('28702'(/66/,*+7/<'(17('$33/,$1&(6 COME & COME & ENJOY A PINA COLADA WITH US! MEGA-CLEARANCE PRICES ON: MEGA-CLEARANCE PRICES ON: MEGA-CLEARANCE PRICES ON: MEGA-CLEARANCE PRICES ON: 6+23',63/$<3+$6('28702'(/66/,*+7/<'(17('$33/,$1&(6 6+23',63/$<3+$6('28702'(/66/,*+7/<'(17('$33/,$1&(6 6+23',63/$<3+$6('28702'(/66/,*+7/<'(17('$33/,$1&(6 6+23',63/$<3+$6('28702'(/66/,*+7/<'(17('$33/,$1&(6 6+23',63/$<3+$6('28702'(/66/,*+7/<'(17('$33/,$1&(6 6+23',63/$<3+$6('28702'(/66/,*+7/<'(17('$33/,$1&(6 6+23',63/$<3+$6('28702'(/66/,*+7/<'(17('$33/,$1&(6 6+23',63/$<3+$6('28702'(/66/,*+7/<'(17('$33/,$1&(6 6+23',63/$<3+$6('28702'(/66/,*+7/<'(17('$33/,$1&(6 Illegal excavations next to Qrendi dolmen 77% of patients in health centres not given files Respondents who mention crime as a main concern increase from 6% last year to 17% now Nov 12 May 13 Nov 13 May 14 Immigration 20 29 63 64 Unemployment 12 17 11 19 Crime 11 6 9 17 Economy 33 28 19 17 Energy 12 22 15 13 Inflation 39 24 19 13 Health 7 10 11 13

• Cover