Queen Mary University of London’s medical school on the Maltese island of Gozo was visited by Maltese Prime Minister Robert Abela as it helps in the fight against coronavirus in Malta by providing storage space for the administration of chemotherapy to cancer patients, beds for vulnerable patient care, space for staff and other critical support functions, such as the storage of sensitive medical equipment.
Following the temporary closure of all educational establishments in Malta, Queen Mary University of London’s Malta campus, located in the grounds of Gozo General Hospital in Victoria, Gozo, and run by Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, is being put to good use in the fight against coronavirus.
Two of the largest lecture theatres on campus are being used for the temperature-controlled storage of over one million euros’ worth of additional medical equipment for use by Steward Healthcare, who operate three public hospitals in Malta.
Gozo General Hospital is now using the School of Medicine and Dentistry campus to continue to provide chemotherapy to Gozitan cancer patients, with post-chemotherapy patients receiving care in the Malta campus Skills Area as Gozo General moves vulnerable patients and repurposes their own wards in the event that they are needed for COVID-19 patients.
Prime Minister Abela visited the campus to see the preparations being made in person and was given a tour of the building by Adrian Formosa, Facilities & Resources Manager for Queen Mary’s Malta campus and Dr Nadine Delicata, Chief Operating Officer of Steward Health Care Malta.
Professor Anthony Warrens, Dean for Education at Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, said: “It is important to us at Queen Mary to be very much a part of the community in which we work and which we serve. So we are delighted to help out in this very difficult time and contribute to the fight against coronavirus in Gozo.”
In the coming weeks, the Hospital also has plans to move outpatient consultations into the Queen Mary Malta campus. Queen Mary’s medical school in Malta has emptied the main classrooms of furniture to make them available as dormitories for clinical staff if required, and the hospital and Steward Healthcare are moving management and administration staff onto the campus to free up space in Gozo General, which is making 80 beds available for patients with coronavirus.
Students and staff from the medical school have been invited to volunteer to assist in any way that they are qualified to do so, and a number of staff and international students who have returned home are currently volunteering for the NHS in the UK.
During the temporary closure of the campus, teaching has moved online and the school has received positive feedback from Queen Mary medical students studying remotely. The majority of students have returned to their home countries but the medical school is supporting the small number of students who remain resident on the island.
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