Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/565097
2 maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 2 SEPTEMBER 2015 News A ONE NIGHT STAY AT HILTON WITH DINNER AT BLUE ELEPHANT We are nearly at 100,000 LIKES! Like our page and create an online account with wwww.maltatoday.com.mt to be in a chance to win. Executive lounge facilities include: î3ULYDWHFKHFNLQ FKHFNRXW î%UHDNIDVWLQWKHORXQJH î$IWHUQRRQ7HDZLWKFDNHVDQGSDVWULHV î3UHGLQQHUGULQNVLQFOXGLQJFDQDS«VDQGDOFRKROLF drinks î7HDFRIIHHDQGQRQDOFRKROLFGULQNV available throughout the day 7+(5220 $FFRPPRGDWLRQLQRQHRIRXU&RQWHPSRUDU\([HFXWLYH5RRP including breakfast and Executive Lounge facilities Government 'burying its head in the sand' over Mater Dei issues – PN Shadow health minister Claudette Buttigieg said the government is ignoring the management issues at Mater Dei MARTINA BORG SHADOW health minister Clau- dette Buttigieg has criticised the government over 'poor manage- ment' at Mater Dei hospital, taking the administration to task over its selection of hospital staff. Stressing that hospital manage- ment had been hand-picked by the Prime Minister and the health ministry, Buttigieg said that hospi- tal CEO Ivan Falzon was currently nowhere to be found. "He has cho- sen to run away rather than face the music, and has dropped the burden on somebody else's shoulders," she said, adding that Falzon was chosen as CEO despite his inexperience in the health sector and in hospital management. "Although media reports them- selves have claimed that the Acci- dent and Emergency sector at the hospital is currently 'at breaking point', the government is choosing to bury its head in the sand and not deal with the issue head-on," she said, adding that the government was once again proving that it had no roadmap for the health sector. Buttigieg also called this sum- mer's situation "the worst ever", saying that the acting CEO and the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses among others had suggest- ed this. Referring to reports that the Ac- cident and Emergency Department was overflowing, Buttigieg quoted the president of the Malta Medical Association, Gordon Caruana Din- gli, who said that the situation was a result of a shortage of empty beds within other departments in the hospital, as well as a vast number of people who could make use of health centres still insisting on go- ing to hospital instead. Last week the Nationalist party leaked a hospital activity report that showed the number of admissions among others. Buttigieg reiterated that the report was previously pub- lished under the PN administra- tion, which showed that there was no secrecy in the sector. Parlia- mentary Secretary Chis Fearne last week said that the report was not secret but it was merely written and designed for managerial purposes. General elections candidate Gra- ziella Schembri, who accompanied Buttigieg, said that patients at Mater Dei were being allowed to languish in corridors. "The worst part is that while pa- tients are losing their dignity, those in charge of the health sector are giving the impression that their sit- uation is not so dire," she said, criti- cising the government's inaction. She added that the government's reaction to the activity report pub- lished last week had resulted in an 'attack' on the character of the per- son who had passed on the report to the PN. "This," she added, "is further con- firmation of the lack of a suitable plan in the health sector." Health ministry says opposition is only interested in negative attacks But the health ministry, replying to the Nationalist party's attacks on improper management of Mater Dei, recalled the previous adminis- tration's shortcomings in the health sector. "Those responsible for the con- struction of a hospital that was too small and for the endless lists of out of stock medications and wait- ing lists are now launching attacks against the hospital and its work- ers," the statement said. The ministry pointed out that shadow minister Claudette Butti- gieg chose not to address the misin- terpretation of some of the figures she had quoted from the hospital activity report during a previous press conference. "Her choice of destructive criti- cism are a shining example of the negativity in the Nationalist party," the statement adds, stressing that the bed shortage was a result of bad planning. "The current administration from the beginning started working on the issue to resolve the problems the previous administration left be- hind it," it said. The ministry added that the first phase of the Medical Adminis- tration Unit, by the Accident and Emergency Unit was projected for completion by the end of this year. "This new section will be home to 68 new beds and the new unit will host 300 new beds in total," it added. The statement also pointed out that the government had managed to significantly cut down waiting lists. It explained that waiting lists for MRI tests had dropped from a year and a half to four months among other results. "These positive results will not be washed away by any of the negative criticism the opposition makes," it added, explaining that there were still various steps ahead, including a €200 million investment to im- prove bed capacity. Claudette Buttigieg (right) complained of poor management at Mater Dei Hospital