Updated | Labour reveals details of health cuts

Adds health ministry statement at 6:20pm

Labour spokespersons Marie Louise Coleiro Preca and Anthony Zammit revealed a breakdown of the €8.5 million budgetary cut in health, during a press conference held this afternoon at the party's headquarters in Hamrun.

According to the figures circulated by the Labour Party, amongst the programmes and entities which will be hit hardest, €1.2 million will be cut from the money allocated to Mount Carmel Hospital, €0.55 million from the Karen Grech Rehabilitation Centre and   €356,000 from the National breast screening programme.

Additionally, 22% will be cut from the budget allocated for over-time, 33% or  €300,000 from primary healthcare, 27% or €60,000 from the strategy on obesity and 8% or €100,000 from postgraduate training.

Last month, the health minister Joe Cassar said in Parliament that the health budget will be reduced by€ 8.5 million after the government had announced that it will undertake a €40 million cut to reach budgetary targets set by the European Commission.  

The opposition and sectors of civil society have been demanding more details on where the cuts will be done from the health minister, however no detailed breakdown has been provided by the ministry so far.

 Coleiro Preca could not reveal the source of the information the PL gave out to journalists today, however said that they are "very reliable" and added that they cannot be "proved wrong."  

The PL spokesperson on health said the government "must come clean with the general public and be truthful and transparent." She posed a number of questions to the health minister in regards to the cuts in over-time and primary health care.

Coleiro Preca said that at the moment there is a shortage of nurses and the staff at Mater Dei and other hospitals are "already overstretched." She asked whether the reduction in over-time will mean that care workers will replace nurses and nursing aides.

In regards to the €0.3 million cut which constitutes 33% of the whole budget for primary health care, she said that the minister should come clean and explain how the cuts fit in with the declared intention to strengthen the sector. Coleiro Preca said that a "stronger primary health sector would alleviate some of the pressure from Mater Dei Hospital, however this cannot be achieved by making such drastic cuts."

"Minister Joe Cassar cannot remain silent on such a worrying situation," she said.

Commenting on the reductions in the budget allocated to the breast screening programme (€356,000) and the National Cancer Plan (€200,000), Coleiro Preca said that contrary to the government's claims, "the fight against cancer is not a priority."

Anthony Zammit, the PL spokesperson on the elderly said that the €8.5 million cut in health "will only affect the weak and the vulnerable persons in society."

Zammit echoed recent declarations by the former Nationalist Party president, Frank Portelli who said that the government has no idea on how to manage the primary health care sector.

Meanwhile, the health ministry reacted to Labour's press conference by saying that the Opposition "is installing fear in vulnerable persons by resorting to half-truths."

The ministry said that the 2012 allocation for health has increased when compared to last year. "The budget increased by €29 million to €405.4 million," the ministry said.

"The Opposition's statements on health services are completely incorrect because the services provided will increase," the statement said.

The ministry added that Labour's claims are "worrying" and appealed for more responsibility on the Opposition's behalf.