Online Complaint Against Malta’s Hospital Services Sparks Heated Debate
In a recent post on popular Facebook group Are You Being Served?, a user shared his utter disappointment at the bedside manners his great aunt experienced while at Mater Dei Hospital.
The woman had an operation which left her with part of her leg being amputated, and has been in hospital for quite a while now. “She has no one to visit her except my grandma,” he said. “They treat her so badly; and whenever my grandmother takes some food for her, they put it on a window ledge and let it there until it gets cold and dries up.”
The post also went on to explain how she has been reporting this several times, but so far, nothing has happened. “Do you think this is fair? She has no one to stick up for her or defend her. Her pension is also not enough for her to go to a private home. She’s going through so much pain.”
“Do you think this is fair? She has no one to stick up for her or defend her… she’s going through so much pain”
The most worrying part of this all, however, is that the original post got dozens of comments, and while some advised to take this further up and contact the appropriate authorities, others had similarly negative experiences to share.
“Unfortunately, that’s what happens at the hospital,” another person commented. “We went through the same situation ourselves with our grandmother’s sister… they even stole her money. When the elderly spend a lot of time in hospital, in their eyes they’d be taking up someone else’s space. But don’t think it’s a different story in a home, because it’s not.”
“There are a lot of helpful people, and I’d like to thank them, but my grandmother found one particular nasty one,” another comment started. “These people are meant to be there to take care of others. Anyone who isn’t patient and good for this sort of work just shouldn’t go for this type of job, and that’s it.”
While similar posts have previously appeared online, hundreds of other people have already made it a point to over the last couple of weeks highlight the stellar job an extremely large part of the hospital staff are doing on a daily basis.
“We should thank the doctors and nurses for the work and sacrifice they do on a daily basis at Mater Dei. I don’t know when we’re going to learn to appreciate our country and stop criticizing!” a post which got over 650 reactions stated on the same group.
“Last week, we spent seven hours in Emergency,” one person explained. “In those seven hours, all the necessary tests were done, and yes, we did wait, but I understood that it wasn’t just us that needed treatment, so we had to wait. We were perfectly served, thanks to all the doctors and staff.”
“And it would be great if we learnt that Emergency is for matters of life or death,” another user suggested. “For other cases, we can go to the Polyclinic.”
“I don’t know when we’re going to learn to appreciate our country and stop criticizing”
What do you make of all this? Let us know in the comments below.
READ NEXT: WATCH: The Abandoned Wards Of St Luke’s Hospital Are Creepy AF
