Labour to foot bill for operations carried out in private sector

A new Labour government will foot the bill for operations to take place in private hospitals if the government hospital does not respect a deadline for an operation that would have been set beforehand, Labour leader Joseph Muscat said.

Describing Mater Dei Hospital as being in a state of emergency, Muscat said that tackling overcrowding and overbooking in the medium to long-term required improving primary health centres, but also opening new centres in partnership with the private sector.

Muscat said services at Mater Dei will be transferred to health centres, especially in the southwest of Malta and Zurrieq and surrounding localities.

Muscat denied having an agreement with the owner of St Philip's Hospital on the use of private hospitals to take in excess patients. "We have no commitment with anyone. Malta is everybody's and we have no problem working with anybody. Nobody will have any advantage over anybody else... everyone will get a level playing field."

Muscat said Labour's proposals would be part and parcel of a government budget he would present in 2013 for the year 2014, if Labour were elected.

The proposals include consultation and a plan of action to tackle the problem of patients being accommodated in corridors, that would include the involvement of the private sector.

Muscat said the country was not in a position to build a new hospital, but said a new Labour government would tackle protocols that were creating bottlenecks, improve health centres as the first port of call for treatment, and pursue investment within the private sector.

Muscat also said a new Labour government would improve the method of hospital appointments, and introduce a streamlined system. "It's unacceptable that people are booked in at the same time," Muscat said.

A new Labour government would also: widen the private-public partnership concept in health; establish the maximum waiting time for operations under a patients' charter; and a dedicated call centre for operations and waiting lists that is estimated to cost €200,000 more than the existent operation.

Muscat said he does not exclude involving the private sector in the operation of the call centre.

He also pledged an additional €1 million investment in the Gozo general hospital, as well as continuous investment in the medical profession.

He also said the private-public partnership would tackle the problem of out-of-stock medicines so that a better system would be implemented. Muscat said that under the PN's proposal for a refund to patients who have to buy their out-of-stock medicine from the pharmacy, there was no incentive for government to make sure the drugs are not out of stock because the refund would be at the price the government buys the medicine

Muscat also said a new Labour government would establish a national project to transport medicine directly to the homes of the elderly, in a bid to save them from having to stand in queues. The first beneficiaries would be those aged over 70 and those with a severe disability and will include the involvement of local councils and health centres. The delivery would be made by either pharmacists or nurses, at an estimated cost of €500,000.