Health ministry mum over €3 million direct order

Care Malta has landed a lucrative €3 million direct order to receive elderly patients who will be transferred out of Mount Carmel hospital, MaltaToday has learnt.

The private company that specialises in homes for the elderly is part of the Vassallo Group, owned by entrepreneur and former Nationalist Party Mosta mayor, Zaren Vassallo.

Care Malta’s Sliema home will receive some 120 elderly patients, which the Health Ministry said will be transferred out of Mount Carmel hospital because of refurbishment works.

But the ministry failed to explain why a direct order for such a value was awarded without a call for tenders.

Care Malta has several public-private partnership agreements but in this particular case, eyebrows were raised because it was awarded by direct order.

The ministry ignored questions related to the direct order despite MaltaToday repeatedly asking for clarifications.

“After decades of neglect, this year the Health Ministry embarked on a programme for the reorganisation and general refurbishment of Mount Carmel hospital and for this reason, a number of patients have to be relocated as most wards need drastic infrastructural works,” the ministry said when asked the reason for the patient relocation.

It added that it would be unsafe to carry out the works without removing the patients from the hospital wards.

The ministry said patients were being individually assessed for fitness and both patients and relatives were informed immediately of the move.

The issue was flagged last month by Opposition MP Mario Galea, who said the transfer of the elderly patients would create anxiety and destabilise them.

Last week, Galea asked the health commissioner in the Ombudsman’s office to investigate the patient transfer, which is imminent. MaltaToday understands that the health commissioner is looking into the matter.

Galea told this newspaper that relatives were informed by the health authorities that the patients will not be returning to Mount Carmel hospital after the refurbishment.

The patients, some of whom are in their 90s, were in wards that were designed to cater for people who suffer from dementia.

“Drastic moves like the one being contemplated are not beneficial for elderly people, who tend to make the place they are residing in their home,” Galea said.

He noted that some of the patients were heavily dependent and required qualified nurses and doctors to look after them, not carers.

“It appears that no consultation was done with geriatric experts before the decision to make the move was taken,” Galea lamented.

The ministry said the relocation concerns patients that can be nursed in a facility for elderly care and not necessarily in a mental hospital.

Mount Carmel hospital came in for harsh criticism by the National Audit Office last week. In a damning report, the NAO found that Mount Carmel was severely under-resourced, both financially and in terms of human resources, while facing considerable internal challenges.

While the NAO said that government had committed to invest €30 million in long overdue repairs to the hospital, the office said this was only a portion of the challenges it faces in operations.