Labour is the solution for free healthcare, says Coleiro Preca

Addressing the media this morning, Labour MP Marie Louise Coleiro Preca criticised government for its work in the health sector and said it was not addressing this sector’s sustainibility.

She added that only the PL can guarantee free and quality health services.

Coleiro Preca said the party was worried at the fact that even Mater Dei’s CEO, Joseph Caruana, said he believed the provision of free health services was “definitely unsustainable”.

However, Caruana clarified that his statement was done from a business point of view and had added that when approached by Health Minister Joe Cassar, Cassar had made it clear “that it is government’s policy to keep health services free.”

Coleiro Preca also referred to an interview carried by MaltaToday with Cassar. She said that the Minister had expressed the same opinion. Speaking on free medicines Cassar had, in fact, told MaltaToday that there were other methods on how to increase the list of government medicine, but it would be through co-payment.

Cassar had added that government had no intention of introducing this system during this legislature.

“It is not conceivable for the PL that health won’t remain free,” Coleiro Preca said. “Sustainability can be addressed with serious planning.”

She said that such problems could be avoided, as they were deriving from lack of planning and politics without direction: “Minister Joe Cassar knows he can reduce costs from unnecessary expenditure and invest that money in more important things.”

Coleiro Preca said that so far no energy audit had been carried out at Mater Dei hospital, whilst feedback from audits carried out in health care centres have not been implemented.

“Audit results show that 37% of energy consumption in a number of centres could be reduced, using that money saved to invest for the benefit of patients.

“At the same time, Boffa hospital is carrying out outsourcing of work which could easily be done by workers who are already employed with Boffa,” she said, taking as example work having to do with food and cleaning.

Coleiro Preca also referred to a 2004 report commissioned by government to plan a sustainable development policy. The report said government had to focus more on primary healtcare.

She asked what has government done on primary healthcare and why it did not implement the report’s proposals.

Whilst the Labour Party welcomed government’s decision to reduce the patients on the waiting list for cataract operations at Mater Dei by having their operations performed free of charge in private hospitals, the PL said this confims that government worked with lack of serious planning.

“Government has lost its trust,” Coleiro Preca concluded.