In this afternoon’s episode of The Boardroom, Kristen Buhagiar, a medical doctor by profession and one of the directors at St Thomas Hospital, believes the way medical care is viewed and accessed as a result of COVID will persist in the long-term.

Asked by presenter and business-writer Jo Caruana about how she has seen care change as a result of the pandemic, Dr Buhagiar remarked that because of the hesitancy by both doctors and patients to hold consultations in persons, innovative ways of providing care had to be devised.

She pointed towards online applications, which had been developed for a number of years, but never quite put to use. Dr Buhagiar cites the convenience for locals to access their doctors as to why online and mobile tools had never been popular before.

“I think the online applications will continue in the future. The view of healthcare has changed for many people, and I believe the online accessibility of doctors will stay with us for a long time”.

Asked about the lessons learnt from the experience, especially for somebody in her position, Dr Buhagiar promptly said that it is important to “jump on the bandwagon and move according to the times”.

“If there needs to be online consultations because people are afraid to come to hospital, then you have to do that. If you can hold coronavirus patients to treat and monitor, then provide that service. Obviously, you have to adapt to the situation and move accordingly to what the people need for everybody to stay safe.”

Turning her attention to the current situation, with Malta having a resurgence of the virus, Dr Buhiagar commented on placing all efforts against losing all that was gained in the four weeks where Malta registered consistently low numbers.

“We want to maintain these gains for the long-term, not for the short-term summer period. After summer there is winter, and possibly another spike,” she cautioned.”

Onto how St Thomas had to adapt in order to treat COVID-19 patients, Dr Buhagiar explained that staff treating virus patients were segregated from the rest of the team, while separate entrances for COVID patients and regular patients were also devised.

This was done to avoid any COVID patients from mixing with others at one time.

“That was initially quite a challenge because we had to think about the pathways through the hospital, but the staff took it on well and we are functioning very efficiently in that manner.”

Asked for any message she may have as a medical doctor, Dr Buhagiar stressed the importance of looking out for how a doctor is developing rays to reach their clients.

“If you need a doctor or a hospital, ask, so that you’ll know the best way to access your medical care, and in the safest way possible.”