Services provided by private hospitals can improve public healthcare - Joseph Muscat

During a visit made this morning at St James Hospital in Sliema, Labour leader Joseph Muscat said the health sector should not be a tendering competition between the public and private service providers. He added that the Public Private Partnership (PPP) should help government create policies based on what is already being provided by private hospitals.  

Muscat said the Labour Party had previously initiated such a system but had been discontinued after 1997.

Referring to the recent PPP measures undertaken by government to help reduce Mater Dei's waiting lists, Muscat said he was pleased that the PPP scheme was taken up again.

He said policies created will not be turned into “legislature” but will be “holistically created for strategic cooperation” for the future of healthcare in Malta.

“This will allow us to create a holistic strategy together with the private health sector. Plenty of analysis of the public health sector will be required such as the cataract operations which appear to cost less in private hospitals. Why does it cost more in the state hospital? Answering these questions will improve health services,” Muscat said.

In comments to MaltaToday, Health Minister Joe Cassar had explained that cataract operations are costing government less at private hospitals because private hospitals operate with fewer employees and offer fewer services.

St James Hospital Group Chariman Josie Muscat took Muscat on a tour around the hospital, explaining the diverse procedures that take place at the hospital.

Nurses and doctors explained the difficulties experienced at the private hospital. The staff said there was a continuous influx of patients being sent from Mater Dei to be treated privately for cataract operations, amongst others, at a cheaper cost due to the PPP.

130 cataract operations have been conducted in a month since the beginning of the PPP. All patients were referred to St James by Mater Dei.

With so many patients being referred to St James, lack of space has become an issue. But Josie Muscat explained the efficiency and success of service allowed patients to return home, and only required hospital visits for change in dressings or follow-up checks.

Josie Muscat explained that working together with the public sector, the private hospitals will be able to enter new spheres of health care development and create procedures for state hospitals to follow and use.

“We are working together with the government to improve the health services and we are currently playing a central role in the Libya situation taking in the wounded which cannot be taken in by Mater Dei. The PPP will help public and private healthcare institutions to compliment each other in the services being provided, instead of putting out tenders for everything needed,” Josie Muscat said.