Hospital management structures in Maltese hospital through the ages

Abstract

The spreading cult of Christ the Healer during the Medieval period led to sick-nursing being viewed as a Christian duty. This encouraged royal dignitaries and philantrophic individuals to donate funds towards the institution and maintenance of a hospital or hospice, the management of these institutions being often shared with religious authorities. The Maltese Islands have been serviced by a series of hospitals, the earliest dating to the fourteenth century. In line with the changing governing authorities through the centuries, the "houses of healing" were variously organized to reflect the different attitudes towards management structures and responsibility cascade. The hospital authorities further exercised their control over the various levels of personnel by detailing regulations that governed the work ethos of all hospital staff. These regulations augmented the general legislative measures taken by the government authorities to control medical and surgical, midwifery and apothecary practices. To assist the government and hospital authorities in ensuring efficient management of the various institutions, data collection and analysis tools were introduced to audit the practice. ; peer-reviewed