Delia blames population increase, economic model for Mater Dei delays

The Nationalist Party has accused the government of being unable to cope with problems cropping up in Maltese healthcare, citing population increases as the main culprit for these problems.

Shadow health minister Adrian Delia blamed the “large population increase and the government’s economic model” for the problems inside healthcare.

“The government has stripped patients of their dignity by hosting beds inside hospital corridors, in zones that are not considered to be hospital wards, and even inside the hospital basement itself. These problems, created by the Labour government, have led to a large shortage of medicines and long waiting lists for medical tests,” Delia said.

Delia also cited the alleged €400 million spent on the Vitals-Steward hospitals’ privatusation as having had repurcussions now being borne by patients. “Despite Labour’s promises, we have not advanced, but taken a massive step back,” Delia said.

Delia added that delays in diagnosis tests, as well as 16,000 people waiting for an appointment or MRI, or CT scans, were compounded by Malta being second from the bottom in a European league on new medicines.

“We are also reminding the government that never before has the need for a new mental health hospital been greater. The Mount Carmel hospital is not sufficiently accessible. Another unkept promise has been a new outpatients department, much as the northern hub clinic or the Mother and Baby Hospital remain unfulfilled.”