Tonight was supposed to be my post belly dance session report. However, I need to write about something utterly nauseating that happened yesterday at Malta's new 'state-of-the-art' hospital Mater Dei. Now, for any non-Maltese readers, the process of this hospital was one of the most scrutinised issues in Maltese history. Just Google 'Mater Dei Hospital' and you can discover the trials and tribulations related to the hospital (or Sptar in Maltese) over the past decade. Putting all that aside, the hospital has been up-and-running since 2007. Still, there exists some controversy related to staff and patient cordiality and other features.
Now, my brother is a doctor under contract with Mater Dei and I can safely say that the biggest concern that the hospital staff ever had to face was the food services within the hospital. There were cases of staff suffering from food-poisoning which were left to deaf ears over the last few months. Also, some visitors were complaining about the quality of food provided and prices. Nothing was done.
And now this afternoon shocking news reached me as soon as my brother got home from work. Referring to the website of one of Malta's most trusted newspapers I found this and confirmed the truth of what I heard:-
Nurse finds part of mouse's head in her plate - caterer destroys supplies, may sue supplier
Source: http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20080902/local/nurse-finds-part-of-mouses-head-in-her-plate
I almost lost my lunch on the mention of this. Although when seeing the comment thread on the newspaper's website one would note that people saw the funny side to this. Comments like 'Sptar tal-Mickey Mouse' (Mickey Mouse Hospital) or 'Taking the Mickey out of Mater Dei' were abundant. Personally, I think this is pretty serious stuff and I am infuriated that it had to be something like this that finally kicked authorities into action. Something must be done before more whiskers and tails are found laying about.
The article states that investigations have proved that the mousy substance came from the supplier and not from the caterer. Let me explain. The mouse head was found in a salad which consisted of vegetables that were imported frozen from Belgium. Now, let's stop a minute and analyse the situation:-
I don't mean to offend because I do have a friend who works in the kitchen there but this is absolutely ridiculous!! How can such a thing go unnoticed? The funniest part is that the caterer for the staff's meals is not the same as the one for the patients’ meals. Why is this so? Can someone explain the reason behind this? Incidentally, most reports of illness related to canteen meals within the hospital came from staff, nurses in particular. One thing that is also looking slightly suspicious to me is how, coincidentally, health inspectors 'happened' to be making a health inspection on the same day and reported all to be up to EU standards. I don't know if you're all thinking what I'm thinking, (excuse the pun) but I smell a RAT!!
Perhaps it might be my imagination running wild again but from personal experience I have a deep mistrust of Health and Safety authorities in Malta. So many cases are left untreated. Things need to change. Just last year I had a work-related incident and when I asked for advice from the authorities I was given the uninterested reply of 'Listen to me, you're better off just brushing it off then fighting for it because you'll get nothing. People lost fingers at work. The most they got was €700, not even a thousand!!'. Unfortunately, H&S in Malta is treated with a laissez-faire attitude, even after membership in the EU. I suggest to the nurse who is undoubtedly suffering from the ordeal to ask for further in-house investigations before blaming the supplier. I'm not saying that foreign companies are perfect but one must consider all possibilities. Shockingly enough a similar incident happened in Finland this year. The victim was a male patient. Poor guy! The report states:
The severed head most likely originated in a bag of Belgian vegetables. The body has not been found and being "a Belgian mouse, the rest of it could be anywhere in Europe"
Source: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/01/27/2147364.htm
MORAL: Stay away from Belgian vegetables!!
Now, my brother is a doctor under contract with Mater Dei and I can safely say that the biggest concern that the hospital staff ever had to face was the food services within the hospital. There were cases of staff suffering from food-poisoning which were left to deaf ears over the last few months. Also, some visitors were complaining about the quality of food provided and prices. Nothing was done.
And now this afternoon shocking news reached me as soon as my brother got home from work. Referring to the website of one of Malta's most trusted newspapers I found this and confirmed the truth of what I heard:-
Nurse finds part of mouse's head in her plate - caterer destroys supplies, may sue supplier
Source: http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20080902/local/nurse-finds-part-of-mouses-head-in-her-plate
I almost lost my lunch on the mention of this. Although when seeing the comment thread on the newspaper's website one would note that people saw the funny side to this. Comments like 'Sptar tal-Mickey Mouse' (Mickey Mouse Hospital) or 'Taking the Mickey out of Mater Dei' were abundant. Personally, I think this is pretty serious stuff and I am infuriated that it had to be something like this that finally kicked authorities into action. Something must be done before more whiskers and tails are found laying about.
The article states that investigations have proved that the mousy substance came from the supplier and not from the caterer. Let me explain. The mouse head was found in a salad which consisted of vegetables that were imported frozen from Belgium. Now, let's stop a minute and analyse the situation:-
If the vegetables were frozen ( and the meal purchased was a salad ) would they not need to be thawed or steamed in order to be served?
This leads me to my next question: How the hell did PART of an animal's head get in there? I mean is the kitchen at Mater Dei one of those cartoon musicals where the staff slice and dice away singing merrily to the banging of pots and pans.
I don't mean to offend because I do have a friend who works in the kitchen there but this is absolutely ridiculous!! How can such a thing go unnoticed? The funniest part is that the caterer for the staff's meals is not the same as the one for the patients’ meals. Why is this so? Can someone explain the reason behind this? Incidentally, most reports of illness related to canteen meals within the hospital came from staff, nurses in particular. One thing that is also looking slightly suspicious to me is how, coincidentally, health inspectors 'happened' to be making a health inspection on the same day and reported all to be up to EU standards. I don't know if you're all thinking what I'm thinking, (excuse the pun) but I smell a RAT!!
Perhaps it might be my imagination running wild again but from personal experience I have a deep mistrust of Health and Safety authorities in Malta. So many cases are left untreated. Things need to change. Just last year I had a work-related incident and when I asked for advice from the authorities I was given the uninterested reply of 'Listen to me, you're better off just brushing it off then fighting for it because you'll get nothing. People lost fingers at work. The most they got was €700, not even a thousand!!'. Unfortunately, H&S in Malta is treated with a laissez-faire attitude, even after membership in the EU. I suggest to the nurse who is undoubtedly suffering from the ordeal to ask for further in-house investigations before blaming the supplier. I'm not saying that foreign companies are perfect but one must consider all possibilities. Shockingly enough a similar incident happened in Finland this year. The victim was a male patient. Poor guy! The report states:
The severed head most likely originated in a bag of Belgian vegetables. The body has not been found and being "a Belgian mouse, the rest of it could be anywhere in Europe"
Source: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/01/27/2147364.htm
MORAL: Stay away from Belgian vegetables!!
2 comments:
o god that's so gross. yuck. can u imagine you are happily eating your lunch and then u find a mouse's head in your food!?!?!??!?!
GROSS!!!!!!!!!!!
I know. It's absolutely revolting!! If you see the comment thread on the Times website, some people are really disgusting. One reader posted this comment: "What if she ate the rest of the head? You know what they say...What's worse than finding a worm in your apple? Finding HALF a worm!!!" Bleh...that's something to chew upon..
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