Updated | Forum calls on government to provide Gozo with chemotherapy services

Adds government's statement

The Ministry for Gozo said it has been carrying discussions with the Health Ministry, looking for the possibility to introduce chemotherapy services at Gozo's General Hospital.

"Government is going to rely on medical professionals' advice whether it would be of benefit for patients to receive in Gozo or not," the Gozo Ministry said. "Unlike the impression being given by MUMN, this is not an administrative decision but a clinical, sensitive one which needs to be addressed seriously."

Earlier: The Forum of Maltese Unions called on government to take heed of MUMN’s (the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses) pleas to provide Gozitans with chemotherapy services, instead of being constrained to travel to Boffa Hospital for such services.

“The lack of action shown by the Ministry of Gozo in this matter is indeed very worrying,” Bencini said in a statement. 

MUMN has repeatedly stated that the Gozo General Hospital would soon be provided with a number of nursing staff fully qualified to provide this kind of service.

“It is a known fact that patients undergoing chemotherapy undergo a huge amount of stress combined with mental, emotional and physical strain,” Bencini said. “Travelling between the two island is indeed an added burden which may be difficult to bear.”

“Forum earnestly requests the competent authorities to immediately enter into discussions with MUMN to seek ways and means to alleviate the pain and suffering of the patients in need of this valuable service.”