The Micallef family, whose 75-year-old mother Elena spent almost three days with a broken wrist at Mater Dei’s emergency department, are standing by their story after the Ministry for Social Policy released a statement accusing this newspaper of “sensationalism” and the Micallef family of “lying”.
Eventually Micallef was left ]with no choice but to go to St James Capua Hospital in Sliema for emergency surgery, which cost her €3,800.
In response to her harrowing experience, reported last Wednesday on MaltaToday, the medical superintendent of Mater Dei, Dr Frank Bartolo, took issue with her son Philip Micallef for making “serious allegations”.
“I received a phone call from Mater Dei. Assuming that the person calling me was about to apologise for the disgraceful lack of customer service we encountered recently at the hospital, to my surprise I was interrogated on the phone very arrogantly, and accused of making false accusations. The feeling I got was that my 75-year-old mother and myself were the people in the wrong, and the hospital was in the right,” Philip Micallef told MaltaToday.
And in a statement it released on Thursday, the ministry of social policy claimed that Mrs Micallef was given an appointment for an operation for Tuesday at 3pm, something the family is denying.
The government also omitted to explain why the hospital staff misplaced Mrs Micallef’s blood samples twice over the course of two days.
Instead, it picked holes in the Micallef family’s version of events, and accused this newspaper of “blowing up unsubstantiated stories”.
On the evening of Sunday, 8 June, Micallef and her family arrived at the emergency department at Mater Dei at around 7:30pm. They were asked to fill in a form and wait in a designated area.
Government later stressed that 93 patients were admitted to the emergency room between 5pm and 12am on Sunday, 15 of them considered “serious cases” – a claim that has not been denied by the Micallef family, who maintain they were waiting with two patients in another area. There, a nurse informed them that they would have to wait for much longer if more urgent cases come in.
The government statement also said that 14 nurses and three carers were working on that night in emergency.
It was only four hours later that a surgeon saw to Mrs Micallef’s wrist. “I asked if it would be much longer for a doctor to see to my mother as she had nearly fainted, and was stressed out, in extreme pain, tired, and totally disgusted with this long wait,” Philip Micallef said.
Finally a nurse took some blood samples. Before departing, with X-rays taken and having a temporary half-cast put on, the Micallefs were told their mother would need an operation, “as a piece of metal would need to be inserted in the wrist, or possibly one would have to be done externally. We were told to come the following morning at 8am, as it was necessary that an operation needed to be done... we were told this operation would be done the following day. This is clearly what we were made to understand.”
On arrival the next day at 8am they were told to wait. After several hours, they were told that blood samples were required once more.
“I informed the nurse that we had done this the previous day; we were then informed that the samples had been lost. Once again the samples were taken.”
Yet again, the nurses emerged hours later to once again take new blood samples.
“At this point I could not believe what I was told,” Philip Micallef said. “I insisted that the samples had already been taken twice, and was told that they could not find the samples we actually took around one hour before, and because of this they could not do the operation.”
The government claims the samples made it to the laboratory at 3:22pm, and the results were ready at 5:16pm – and that Mrs Micallef’s operation couldn’t be scheduled for that day since there were other urgent cases, asking her to return on Tuesday.
“After nine hours of waiting we were informed that we had to come back the following day,” Philip Micallef said. “I asked what time my mother would be operated the following day, and also if they could call us an hour before, to save us waiting for endless hours at the hospital since they could not give us an exact time.
“The doctor on duty then told me he could not do this, because if something more urgent came along we would once again be put on hold. After asking the doctor a second time what time my mum would be operated on, he clearly told me that we had to come the following day and simply wait. He also said the following day that there would be no guarantee whatsoever that she would be operated on.”
Micallef said that the doctor informed him that they would have to keep coming until his mother is finally given a slot, because nobody could give them a fixed appointment.
The government however claims that that Elena Micallef was third in line for an operation scheduled for 3pm on Tuesday, 10 June – something which the Micallef family say was never communicated to them.
“How in the world could they say that, if they knew they could not guarantee anything? I assume the reason is to say to simply justify themselves. I am prepared to meet the doctor face to face to see him deny telling us we had to wait until they found a slot for my mother, even if it meant waiting five days.”
It was here that the Micallef family decided to go to St James Capua: “If we had known she was going to be operated on Tuesday, and that we were third in line as stated by the government, would we have been so extremely foolish to go private and pay thousands of euros?”
Micallef added that many of the doctors at Mater Dei are the same as those who work in private hospitals – which is where they were met by Dr Jan Balent, who although not having seen to Mrs Micallef at Mater Dei, was on duty there, the family maintain.
“It’s not like we’re going to have any better treatment. The reason we went to St James is to get the operation done quickly, something the government and Mater Dei are obliged to do. My retired parents have paid their taxes all their working lives and at least deserve the courtesy of an apology from the inefficient administration of Mater Dei.
“The least we expect is an acknowledgement from the State that the hospital is in the wrong, instead of trying to justify themselves and trying to put the blame on us.”
Micallef reiterated once again that the reason he went public with his mother’s experience is that he sincerely wished for nobody to go through the same ordeal.

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Dr Frank Portelli, chief executive of St Philip’s Hospital, opined that Micallef had waited too long for an operation without ever a consultant seeing to her at Mater Dei.
“I m not quite sure what this declaration by the Mater Dei administration aims to achieve. I understand the facts to be that Mrs Micallef, a 75-year-old lady, sustained a wrist fracture which required an operation.
“She was taken to Mater Dei Hospital on Sunday 8 June at 7:27 pm, and her wrist was put in plaster, this as a temporary measure. Mrs Micallef was sent home with a fracture that was unstable – by definition, since the fracture required internal fixation.”
Portelli also mentioned that the blood tests took far too long to be taken and analysed despite Mrs Micallef coming in to Mater Dei on time.
“Mrs Micallef then returned to Mater next day at 8am as requested. Blood was taken from her prior to the operation planned for that day. The blood arrived in the laboratory at 3:22pm – seven hours 22 minutes after Mrs Micallef was admitted to Mater Dei that day.
The results of these blood tests took another one hour 54 minutes to reach the ward – some 9 hours after her admission.
“At this stage Mrs Micallef’s operation was postponed and she was told to go home again with instructions to return to Mater Dei the following day – Tuesday 10 June – starved in anticipation for her operation. No reference is made to the time of this re-scheduled admission.”
Portelli then says that despite being asked to wait, it appears that Micallef was not given due attention by a consultant at Mater Dei.
“Some time after 5:16pm on 9 June, Mrs Micallef left Mater Dei and was taken to St James Capua Hospital where she was seen by a specialist Jan Balent shortly after 6:00pm, apparently, therefore, within a few minutes of arriving at Capua hospital. Mrs Micallef’s operation was performed in Capua next day Tuesday 10 June, at 3:00pm.
“Patients in hospital are under specific consultants but there is no mention under whose care Mrs Micallef was at Mater Dei Hospital. There is no indication either whether Mrs Micallef was actually seen by a consultant at Mater Dei at any time during this whole saga.”