January - May 2021 Issue Inauguration of the new CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE PODIATRY SERVICES in B’KARA T he Podiatry Centre of Excellence, inaugurated by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Health, Mr Chris Fearne, in the presence of the Hon. Alex Muscat, Parliamentary Secretary for Citizenship and Communities, on the 21st of April, is another successful milestone in our commitment to excellence. This is the third Centre of Excellence within the Primary HealthCare, with the other two being the Eye Screening Centre and the Speech and Language Pathology Centre. Over the past 12 months we continued to invest in our infrastructure to boost our approach towards exceeding our clients’ and staff needs. More than €220,000 were invested in the overall refurbishment and modernisation (Continued on page 6) -1-
schedules, safe environment, effective work-fromhome logistics, and secured great organisational success. I am proud of you all as a united team, and on behalf of the Primary HealthCare’s Senior Management Team, I would like to thank you for Roseanne Camilleri Chief Executive Officer your valued efforts working diligently towards making this crisis a learning experience for us all, and an opportunity to improve and excel for the During these past months we have consistently kept focus on our determined resolve to provide top notch services to our esteemed clientele’, as we faced the considerable national and global challenges brought about, primarily, by the continued evolvement of the COVID-19 pandemic. benefit of all, across the Maltese Islands. The contents of this Bulletin are a manifestation of our effective input. Please accept my heartfelt gratitude for setting a perfect example of dedication, professionalism, and responsibility! Throughout this period, we have, in concert, adapted to work exigencies, where balancing life and work have become even more fundamental. We have sustained flexible working Ms Roseanne Camilleri was one of the panel members during the NCPE International Women's Day Conference which took place on the 2nd of March 2021. Editorial Dorothy Scicluna Daniel Corso Welcome to the first issue of the News Bulletin for 2021. During the past couple of months, whilst we continued to give our outmost in managing the pandemic, we also focused ng on our ongoing projects, especially the modernisation of our infrastructure and the expansion of the services we This news bulletin will give you a good snapshot of the achievements we made from the beginning of this year. Any feedback/queries may be forwarded to: dorothy.scicluna@gov.mt. Keep safe! offer. Primary HealthCare (Head Office). 7, Harper Lane, Floriana Telephone: (+356) 21231231 www.primaryhealthcare.gov.mt -2-
Speech and Language Centre in December 2020. This is the first clinical test for assessing verbal comprehension in the Maltese language, entirely developed locally to serve the form of the Maltese language. It targets the assessment of children between the ages of 2 years and 8 years who are developing Maltese as their first language. The need for this test was long felt. Speech and Language Pathologists (SLPs), working in the Maltese Islands, still lacked a clinical tool with which they could compare the Rosario Mizzi development of verbal comprehension in Maltese language to Senior Allied Health Practitioner locally researched developmental milestones. Such comparison is important in the diagnosis of developmental language delays or impairments and in describing the effect of developmental conditions (such as syndromes, learning disability and autism) on the development of language and communication. It is also important in clinical decision-making and designing individual therapy plans. This new clinical tool was distributed in 60 community SLP outlets covering Health Centres, Community Clinics and Mainstream schools. The tool is being used as part of an assessment battery and is showing very positive results. SLPs, carers and service users provided very positive feedback for the TFM in terms of being an easy tool to administer; it has clear photographic prompters and scores can be clearly communicated to and understood by the service user. Its use with adult clients is being investigated for possible future development of this clinical tool. -3-3-
Inauguration of the Telemedicine Client Support Centre Mosta Technopark 26th March 2021 -4-
Awards trophy. The Primary HealthCare was the winner for the Best use of Tech in Business Transformation, with our EPR project ‘Moving away from Paper-Based patient records, towards an integrated Electronic Patient Record IT system’ Left to right: Mr Daniel Corso, Dr Pace Asciak, Ms Roseanne Camilleri, ____Mr Isaac Sammut and Dr Raymond Sammut The importance of vaccination & precautionary measures for COVID-19 The early stages of a vaccination campaign presents challenges due to the fact that it is not fully known The measures which are considered as pivotal in protecting personal and public health against to what extent fully vaccinated individuals will be protected from the disease in real-life conditions, how long will they be protected for, and what effects the vaccines will have on transmission. COVID-19 include, keeping a safe distance from others, limiting social or physical contact, wearing face-coverings, ensuring good ventilation inside buildings, washing our hands properly and several According to ECDC (2021), COVID-19 vaccines are proving to be effective at keeping people from becoming sick or seriously ill even if they do get the COVID-19 disease. However, research is still ongoing on this topic, and more evidence is also required about the ability of COVID-19 vaccines to prevent infection transmission. For this reason, until vaccine coverage at population level is sufficiently high, better known as herd immunity, vaccinated individuals should continue to follow the public health measures that apply to everyone and which we have now become accustomed to. -5-5- times a day and making sure we cover our nose and mouth when we cough and sneeze. In time, it is hoped that vaccination will contribute to minimise the impact of the virus, such that the public health measures can be eased. Meanwhile, remember that if you are advised to self -isolate, you must do so because there is still risk that you might spread infection to others, even if you have been vaccinated and feel entirely well yourself. Adrian Pace Senior Practice Nurse
clinic and diabetic-foot screening. This Centre of attractive environment for our clients and the staff. Excellence also introduced a number of new services, We strongly believe that the look and the feel of the namely the new claudication clinic and the new high- place of work says a lot about the ‘business’ and this risk foot biomechanics clinic, and the expansion of is also reflected in the output quality. the rheumatoid foot clinic. This centre offers numerous services including the The Podiatry Centre of Excellence will form part of biomechanical assessment and gait analysis clinic, a the lower limb vascular clinic, nail avulsion surgery, a Endocrinology which is earmarked to be launched podopaediatrics clinic for children under 16 years of later this year. age, the rheumatology and musculoskeletal podiatry -6- Centre of Excellence for Diabetes &
Biomechanical Assessment and Gait Analysis Clinic The Podopaediatrics Clinic -7-
AWARDS 2021 The Primary HealthCare was presented two prestigious awards during the Malta Healthcare Awards 2021 organised by the Malta Business Review and which was held on the 24th of February. The first award recognises our Outstanding Contribution in the field of Primary Health Care. We are proud that the Primary HealthCare team was also recognised as the Rising Start of the Year! During the Malta’s Best Entrepreneur of the Members of the Primary HealthCare Team and Ms Roseanne Camilleri ___during the Malta’s Best Entrepreneur of the Year Awards 2020 Year Awards 2020, Ms Roseanne Camilleri, won three prestigious awards in Healthcare Entrepreneur of the Year Award, Chairman's Value Award and MALTCO Lotteries Lifetime Achievement Award. Mr Roseanne Camilleri receiving the awards -8-8-
the Vincent Moran Southern Regional Hub are underway and progressing rapidly. A visit to the new Marsaxlokk Community Clinic -9-9-
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