This Charter

Rights and expectations

Information protected

How to contact us

Personal consideration and respect

Access to services

Providing information

Our services

Your role as a patient

If you are not satisfied with our service

Learning from you!

This charter outlines your rights and responsibilities as a patient when making use of the services offered by the Admitting and Emergency Department and the Ambulance Garage at the Gozo General Hospital. It is also intended as a guide to the chartered services available and for each of these services, we have outlined the standards of performance you can expect from us. Through this charter we are committing ourselves to providing you with a quality service. At the Admitting and Emergency Department, Gozo General Hospital, we are dedicated to provide the highest quality patient care in a compassionate and personalised manner while keeping within the local social, cultural and economic environment.

Throughout our charter we refer to rights and expectations. You are entitled to your rights at all times and at all places under the jurisdiction of the public health service. You also have the right to:

• receive health care on the basis of your clinical needs not on your lifestyle, skin colour, sex or any other factor

• give or withhold your consent to medical and / or other care and treatment.

Expectations, on the other hand, are the standards we will do our best to achieve at the Admitting and Emergency Department and the Ambulance Garage. Exceptional circumstances may sometimes prevent us from meeting these standards.

Personal information provided is protected and used in accordance with the Data Protection Act 2001.

Our Admitting and Emergency Department is situated within the Gozo General Hospital premises in Victoria. You can contact us by:

• coming personally or writing to the

Gozo General Hospital

Admitting and Emergency Department

Victoria VCT 102

Gozo

• phoning on: 21561600 Extension 225 / 228

• sending us a fax on: 21546405

• visiting our website at: www.gozo.gov.mt

When you visit or contact us, you can expect to:

• find a number of enquiry points and clear sign posting to help you find your way around

• be cared for in an environment that is comfortable, clean and safe.

The Ambulance Garage is located near the Medical and General Stores (on the right hand as you enter the hospital’s main gate). You can contact us by –

• coming personally or writing to the

Gozo General Hospital

Ambulance Garage

Victoria VCT 102

Gozo

• phoning on: 21561600 Extension 329

• sending us a fax on: 21546405

When you visit or contact us, you can expect to:

• find a number of enquiry points and clear sign posting to help you find your way around

• be cared for in an environment that is comfortable, clean and safe.

You can expect all our staff you meet to wear a tag indicating both their name and their grade within the Admitting and Emergency Department and the Ambulance Garage. You can also expect all staff who deals with you to treat you in the best possible manner. We will attend to your needs with courtesy and respect for your privacy, dignity, culture, religious beliefs and lifestyle.

The Admitting and Emergency Department at the Gozo General Hospital is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, including public holidays. If a medical need arises you may refer to Admitting and Emergency Department by:

• self-referral i.e. you go directly to Admitting and Emergency Department by yourself

• referral through the Emergency Ambulance Service

• referral to the Admitting and Emergency Department by a medical officer in private practice

• referral to the Admitting and Emergency Department by a medical officer from the Health Centre.

In emergency cases, the Admitting and Emergency Department’s policy is to cater for the most urgent case and not on a first come first served basis. You also have the right to be prescribed appropriate drugs and medicines. If your income falls within a certain bracket you may also be entitled to a Pink Card. This card gives you the right to get your medicines free of charge. Ask at your local Social Security area office for more information.

If you suffer from one of a number of specified chronic conditions, you also have a right to get your medicines free of charge. These conditions are specified in a list known as the Schedule V, which your family doctor should be able to advise you on. In case of foreigners these services are given against payment except in the case of English subjects who stay up to one month, Australians and Greeks who stay up to six months in Malta or Gozo.

The Ambulance Garage offers the following services:

• emergency ambulance service

• transport to and from other Government Hospitals in Malta

• transport of patient to and from home (to attend clinics at Gozo General Hospital or when discharged from the same Hospital)

• transport of residential patients at the Gozo General Hospital for outings or other social events

• transport of patients by ambulance from home (in Gozo) to private hospitals both in Malta and Gozo or the Gozo Heliport or the Malta International Airport. This service is offered against payment, €23.29 per hour on weekdays and €34.94  per hour on Sundays and Public Holidays. To provide the services mentioned above the Ambulance Garage liases with other Gozo General Hospital wards, units and sections. This means that to make use of any of the above services, you, as a patient, will need to be referred from the proper section.

Except for Emergency Transport Services, all other transport is aimed for those patients who have no means of transport, cannot make use of buses or other ordinary transport. The Gozo General Hospital’s Administration retains the right to scrutinise any or all the requests received for the provision of such transport. Any patient who is found abusing in any way the service provided will have such service withdrawn immediately.

You have the right to:

• be fully and clearly informed of the services available at the Admitting and Emergency Department and the Ambulance Garage

• be given a clear explanation on any proposed treatment, including any risks involved and any alternative forms of treatment to help you make an informed decision

• have all records and information about you stored in a confidential manner

• have all questions you may have on your condition answered

• be given appointments for follow-ups based on your clinical needs.

You can be referred to any acute or residential ward either through the Admitting and Emergency Department or the Outpatients Department. You can be referred through the Admitting and Emergency Department after being assessed by the Medical Officer on duty at the same Department. On assessment the medical officer will decide whether you need admission to Gozo General Hospital or not. You can be referred through the Outpatients Department after an assessment by a consultant or medical officer. In this case all the arrangements are carried out at the Outpatients Department and you are referred to the Admitting and Emergency Department only for registration purposes.

Upon referral to the Admitting and Emergency Department, you will be immediately received at the reception desk by the staff at the Admission and Emergency Department and immediately assessed by a nurse. After assessment the nurse will immediately discuss your case with the medical officer on duty at the Admitting and Emergency Department. If your case is assessed as urgent, you will be seen immediately by the Medical Officer on duty at the Admitting and Emergency Department.

The Medical Officer will also inform you on what course of medical action you are to take. If your case is not categorised as urgent, you will be seen, by the Medical Officer on duty at the Admitting and Emergency Department, within 30 minutes of having been assessed by the nurse. In both cases, the medical officer will also inform you on what course of medical action you are to take.

On admittance, you will be expected to dispose of all valuables (e.g. money, gold, etc.) by either locking them in the Gozo General Hospital’s safe or by handing them over to your next of kin. The Hospital will record in writing, against your signature, attending nurse and Hospital’s Security Officer’s, the list of valuables locked in safe or given to next of kin. In case you are unconscious, it is the Hospital’s policy that valuables are recorded in writing and locked in Hospital’s safe.

The Fresh Trauma Clinic is held from 8.30am to 9.30am on Monday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. However, the Fresh Trauma Clinic will not be held if any of these days happens to be a public holiday.

Referrals to the Fresh Trauma Clinic can only be made by medical officers on duty at the Admitting and Emergency Department after the case has been seen and treated at the mentioned department. Serious cases of trauma involving sprains, strains, fractures or musculo-skeletal problems seen by the Medical Officer on duty at the Admitting and Emergency Department may be given an appointment for the Fresh Trauma Clinic, to be seen by the Orthopaedic Surgeon. If needed, after being seen at the Admitting and Emergency Department you will be given an appointment when to attend the Fresh Trauma Clinic. Appointments for new cases are given for the first day that Fresh Trauma Clinic is due.

You can expect to be seen by the Orthopaedic Consultant within 15 minutes of appointment time given. At the end of the visit, you will be informed about course of treatment to be followed and a follow up appointment either at the Fresh Trauma Clinic, Outpatients Department, Health Centre or if no further visits or medical care is required.

Urinary catheter nursing care in the community is given by male nurses from the Admitting and Emergency Department for male patients with indwelling urinary catheter. Male patients may be referred for this service:

• when discharged from Hospital. The ward discharging the patient makes a request in writing, for this service, to the Admitting and Emergency Department

• by a medical officer in Private Practice who can make a request in writing, for this service, to the Admitting and Emergency Department.

The request or referral note has to include name, address and telephone number of you as a patient and your next of kin, size and type of urinary catheter.

Within 24 hours of receiving the written request, the officer in charge at the Admitting and Emergency Department will contact you by telephone informing you how the care will be organised. Non-urgent care is provided between 10.00 am to mid-day and 4.00 pm to 6.00 pm daily, including Sundays and Public Holidays. Urgent care is provided 24 hours a day, seven days a week, including public holidays. You will be informed what is to be procured for your care on the first contact between Admitting and Emergency Department and patient.

The patient has to procure all the items necessary for care needed. Patients in possession of Yellow Card Schedule V or Pink Card can have the items needed for care, free of charge, from the Gozo General Hospital’s Pharmacy. A Medical Officer has to fill the necessary prescription/s to be presented with these cards. Items needed for care include: urinary catheters, urine bags, local anaesthetic gel, sterile gloves, sterile urinary catheterisation pack, cleaning lotion. A patient who is not entitled for Yellow Card Schedule V or Pink Card may obtain the needed items from the Gozo General Hospital’s Pharmacy against payment.

You can contact the Admitting and Emergency Department 24 hours a day, seven days a week if any problems are encountered regarding the urinary catheter. On contact the Admitting and Emergency Department will provide you with the necessary advice or if case demands urgent care in the community. We will also keep a record of the care being provided together with your personal data on the ‘Urinary Catheterisation Chart’ kept in a confidential file at the Admitting and Emergency Department.

This service is provided from 6.30pm till 9.30am, seven days a week, including public holidays. New cases needing oxygen therapy in the community can also be provided with an oxygen cylinder, flowmeter and oxygen mask from the Admitting and Emergency Department - Gozo General Hospital. In this case, you will need to have a written referral by a medical officer in private practice or within the Government Health Service.

If you are already making use of oxygen therapy in the community, you can have your empty oxygen cylinders changed with full ones at the Admitting and Emergency Department. In this case, you have to provide us with the empty oxygen cylinder.

Between 9.30am and 6.30pm this service is provided from the Central Sterile Supply Department (CSSD) within the Gozo General Hospital. From the CSSD, new cases will be referred to the General Stores - Gozo General Hospital where you have to make a deposit of Lm40 to make good for any damage that you may cause to equipment being lent. This deposit will be refunded when you do not need oxygen therapy anymore and return the equipment, without any damage, to the Gozo General Hospital.

You can expect your request to be dealt with within 10 minutes on arriving at the Admitting and Emergency Department. Please remember that only small oxygen cylinders are issued for use in the community and no spare cylinders will be supplied. It is also important that you return all the equipment (the oxygen cylinder and flowmeter) when you do not need oxygen therapy any more.

This service is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, including public holidays. All drug abusers can request 0.5ml and 1ml sterile and disposable syringes from the Admitting and Emergency Department. No personal information will be requested from patient or kept by Admitting and Emergency Department, and syringes will be handed within 5 minutes of demand. It is important that patient disposes of used syringes in a safe manner, to avoid injury or harm to other persons. Used syringes and needles are best disposed off in a sealed, puncture proof, rigid plastic container.

The Admitting and Emergency Department Reception Desk backs up as the Hospital Enquiries Reception Desk during the following times:

• daily, between 2.00pm -7.00am

• all day and night on Sundays and public holidays.

You can expect to be given the information requested or be advised how the information requested could be obtained, within 10 minutes of approaching the Admitting and Emergency Department’s Reception Desk. No information regarding condition, investigation results, prognosis and any information regarding in-patients or any other patients attending the Gozo General Hospital will be given from these Desks, even if requested.

The Admitting and Emergency Department premises serve as a back up for the Health Centre in Victoria between 8.00pm - 8.00am seven days a week, including public holidays. Between 8.00am - 8.00pm, Health Centre at Victoria Gozo is open, thus non-urgent cases are advised to proceed to or contact this Centre for medical advice / care needed / home visits. If you need the services of the Health Centre you can either proceed to or call the Admitting and Emergency Department, during the specified time, where the Health Centre doctor will be available for medical advice, consultations, treatments and home visits.

You can expect to be immediately assessed by a nurse on entering the Admitting and Emergency Department. The Health Centre doctor will be informed about your medical needs and will see you within 15 minutes of your arrival. The Health Centre doctor will inform, discuss, provide or prescribe for you the treatment or medical care needed in your case.

In a medical emergency or an accident in Gozo, you can call 196 for an ambulance to transport casualties to the Admitting and Emergency Department at the Gozo General Hospital. The Emergency Ambulance Service is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, including public holidays.

You can call 196 from any telephone for the Emergency Ambulance Service. In Gozo, the call will be received by the Hospital’s telephone operator who refers the call immediately to the Admitting and Emergency Department at the Gozo General Hospital. You will be asked the following details: patient’s name, address, who is making the call, and any landmarks to reach the site of accident more quickly and details about the case. The Admitting and Emergency Department will then contact the Ambulance Garage to have the emergency ambulance dispatched within 4 minutes. At the Ambulance Garage there are always two ambulances and two drivers on standby to cater for the emergencies that may arise.

You can expect us to:

• keep the ambulances tidy and equipped with basic medical equipment and in proper and safe mechanical condition

• have the medical equipment needed and the ability to assist patients and to carry out advanced First Aid and Basic Life Support

• contact other services such as, police, fire brigade, if needed

• ask the Medical Officer on duty at the Gozo Health Centre to assist us if the medical condition of the patient necessitates this

• carry the patient to and from ambulance using stretchers if the medical condition necessitates this

• give the patient immediate further medical assistance at the Admitting and Emergency Department.

When needed, we also provide urgent transport of patients to other Government Hospitals in Malta. Depending on the urgency and medical needs of the case, we transport the patient either by ambulance or helicopter. These urgent transfers can be ordered only by consultants or medical officers working at the Gozo General Hospital. Both the Ambulance and Helicopter services are available 24 hours a day seven days a week including public holidays. An ambulance and ambulance driver is always available at the Ambulance Garage for such transfers.

Following referral, an ambulance is immediately dispatched to pick up the patient, from the Gozo General Hospital Ward or the unit concerned and the staff that is to accompany the patient. With the Ambulance Service, a Nursing Aide and a nurse will accompany the patient. These personnel will have the medical equipment needed and the ability to assist the patient and to carry out advanced First Aid and Basic Life Support.

On arrival at the Government Hospital in Malta, using the Ambulance Service, the patient will be informed if he/she is to be kept there or sent back after treatment. If the patient is to be treated and sent back, the accompanying nurse and ambulance will stay with the patient for the whole duration of treatment. After the treatment has been completed, the patient will be transported back to Gozo with the first ferry available. The necessary Helicopter Service arrangements will be made for medical staff to accompany the patient. No relatives will be allowed to travel with the patient on helicopter. Helicopter Service will be used only one way to transfer patients from Gozo General Hospital to other Government Hospitals in Malta.

Transport from Gozo General Hospital to clinics or Government Hospitals in Malta is available by ambulance or coach, as may be required. To book for such planned transport, the patient must have a referral note either from the Medical Officer in Private Practice, the Health Centre or from a section within the Gozo General Hospital.

The referral note from Medical Officer in Private Practice must indicate the patient’s name, address, telephone number, the reason why transport is needed, date, time and the clinic or Government Hospital in Malta that you are to attend. If the patient is being referred from any ward, section or unit at the Gozo General Hospital or from the Health Centres, then a Request for Transport Form (GGH 50) has to be filled in. Referral notes have to be submitted to the Departmental Nursing Manager at the Gozo General Hospital who will in turn inform the Ambulance Garage and confirm the appointment. The referral note has to arrive at the Departmental Nursing Manager at least by 8.00am before the day that the appointment is due, so that the Hospital will have sufficient time to plan and organise the transport.

Transport usually leaves from in front of the Admitting and Emergency Department at 7.00 am to catch the 7.30 am ferry. The patient will be accompanied by at least one nursing aide who apart from assisting patients, will have the equipment and ability to carry out basic first aid. Next of kin will be allowed to board only if seating space is available.

Patients will have to provide their own transport to arrive in front of the Admitting and Emergency Department, from where ambulance or coach leaves to Malta, and to go back home when transport arrives back from Malta and patients are again unloaded in front of the Admitting and Emergency Department at the Gozo General Hospital.

Transport service is also available for those patients who need transport from home to attend the various clinics at the Gozo General Hospital. Such transport is organised to correspond with the appointment times of the patients at the various hospital sections, and is normally available between 7.30 am to noon.

The patient first has to make the necessary appointment with the clinic where he or she is due to attend. The staff at the clinic where the appointment has been made will then fill up the Request for Transport Form (GGH 50) and forward it to the Ambulance Garage. These request forms are to arrive at the Ambulance Garage at least one day before the appointment is due. It will be very helpful if on the form the staff indicates if the patient is wheelchair bound or a stretcher case.

The patient will then be given the approximate time when he/she will be picked up. The Ambulance Garage groups patients from same area to be picked up at the same time. The patient can expect to be transported to the Gozo General Hospital on time to attend for the clinic. Apart from the driver, the transport vehicle will have the service of one nursing aide who apart from assisting patients, will have the equipment and ability to carry out basic first aid.

When the patients are ready from the Clinic, the Ambulance Garage will be informed that the patient is ready to be transported back home. The Clinic will also inform the Ambulance Garage from which Hospital Area the patient is to be picked up. The Ambulance Garage groups patients from the same area and are taken home at the same time.

We also make available a coach to be used for outings or cultural visits organised for resident patients at the Residential Section (Male Geriatric Ward, Residenza St. Anna, Long Stay Ward) of the Gozo General Hospital. Patients in this ward can book such transport by sending a written referral note to the Ambulance Garage, at least one day before the transport is needed, indicating the section, date and time when transport is needed.

Transport will be made available, as far as possible on the time demanded. The Ambulance Garage will immediately consult with the section making the request and the Departmental Nursing Manager at the Gozo General Hospital if problems are encountered in organising such transport.

Apart from the driver, the coach will have the service of one accompanying nurse and one nursing aide or health assistant. The nurse, apart from assisting patients, will have the equipment and ability to carry out basic first aid. The patients will expect to be taken to the agreed activity on time and after the activity is over, to be immediately taken back to their respective Residential Areas at the Gozo General Hospital.

A service of ambulance transport is provided by the Ambulance Garage for patients who need to travel by ambulance from their home in Gozo to private clinics or private hospitals in Malta and Gozo, to the Gozo Heliport or the Malta International Airport. This service is offered against payment, €23.29 per hour on weekdays and €34.94 per hour on Sundays and Public Holidays.

To book for such transport, the patient must have a referral note from a medical officer. Such planned transport has to be discussed with the referring medical officer, the Departmental Nursing Manager at the Gozo General Hospital and the Ambulance Garage.

On presenting the referral note to the Departmental Nursing Manager, the source making the referral will be informed if booking has been confirmed.

Apart from the driver, the ambulance will have the service of at least one nursing aide who, apart from assisting the patient, will have the equipment and ability to carry out basic first aid. If needed, a nurse will also accompany the ambulance.

The patient will be picked from home on the agreed time and transported to the site requested on referral note. Transport will be made available, as far as possible, on the date and time demanded. When ready from appointment, patient will be transported back home if such arrangement was agreed on, on referral.

We constantly seek to improve the quality of our care. There are a number of things you can do to help us give you a better service. Please remember to:

• bring any documents we may need, for example, your ID card / passport, your Pink or Schedule V cards, referral tickets / notes, or any record cards which some clinics provide

• give to the medical staff (doctors, nurses, consultants) all the details about your condition, any illnesses you may have had, past hospitalisations, any medication you are taking, any allergies you may have and any other matter relating to your health. Remember, the more said the better.

• report to the medical staff attending, any unexpected changes in your condition

• ask the medical staff to explain again if you have not fully understood the recommended course of action

• follow the treatment plan or advice recommended by the medical staff

• take responsibility for your actions if you refuse treatment or do not follow the medical staff’s instructions

• when making use of our transport report to staff any unexpected changes in your condition.

It is also important to remember that the Emergency Ambulance Service and all Emergency Services are there for you when you are in the most urgent need of hospital’s medical treatment. Irresponsible use of the Emergency Services may overload unnecessarily the system causing artificial scarcity of resources with consequent grave outcomes that may also cost lives.

If you need to complain about some aspect of our service, please speak to the person seeing to your needs. If you would like to pursue the matter further, you may lodge a formal complaint. Please write to the Medical Superintendent at the following address:

The Medical Superintendent

Gozo General Hospital

Admitting and Emergency Department

Victoria VCT 102

Gozo.

We will conduct an investigation and provide you with a report explaining how we are dealing with your case. You can expect your complaint to be acknowledged within 7 working days. We aim to put matters right as quickly as possible. You can expect to receive a report on your case within 20 working days. Exceptional circumstances may prevent us from giving you a satisfactory reply within this period. In this case the Medical Superintendent will explain the reasons for the delay and indicate when you can expect a full reply.

We continuously strive to provide a service that meets your needs and we welcome any comments and suggestions for service improvement. Kindly give us your comments and suggestions by filling in a feedback form and leaving it in the suggestion box that we have made available at our reception desk or affix a stamp and send it by post to our office. You can also lodge a complaint, make a suggestion or ask a question by accessing the Customer Care System at www.servizz.gov.mt

All information is correct at time of going to print. Information is continuously updated on the Charter Support Unit website.

December 2003