[WATCH] New €58 million oncology hospital welcomes first patients

Chris Fearne inaugurates new oncology centre • Video by Ray Attard

The new Oncology Hospital today welcomed its first 50 outpatients in the first step towards a complete migration from Boffa Hospital in Floriana by May 2015.

The €52 million Sir Anthony Mamo Oncology Hospital will offer advanced radiotherapy and chemotherapy with new machines commissioned and Parliamentary Secretary Chris Fearne said the centre will receive up to 113 patients and 16 outpatients.

In a reaction, PN MP Claudio Grech described the Oncology Hospital as a beacon of hope for thousands of patients who go through the hardship and challenging path of treating cancer.

“This Hospital will mark a quantum leap in the oncology treatment in our country, establishing a centre of excellence with the sole aim to step up the national health service’s capacity to treat cancer and ensure that our patients are given the best treatment possible in our country.  This Hospital is a beacon of hope as it also clearly marks how consensual healthcare policy can serve this country so much better,” Grech said.

“The idea, the planning, the funding and the commencement of works on this Hospital started under the former PN administration with the present government following through and completing the project. Hopefully, this model will be used in other areas of healthcare policy wherein our common goal would be the improvement of the long-term quality of healthcare provided rather than the short-term quick political wins.”

Whilst looking forward to the timely completion of the Hospital, the Nationalist Party expressed its gratitude and admiration for the workforce of the Boffa Hospital: “These employees are a living example of what it means to care for their patients and to support the patients’ families in what would be the hardest time that they would ever go through in their lives.”