Muscat pledges public-private partnership as ‘cornerstone of healthcare policy’

Labour leader Joseph Muscat yesterday crowned off three sessions of policy talk at Labour's national congress with a pledge to deliver a general hospital that would give better service, on time.

The impromptu motion - a style being adopted in each of Labour's policy sessions being held this week in Ta' Qali - met an expected approval from the attendees which listened to surgeon Carmel Grixti make his opening speech on the woes afflicting Mater Dei Hospital.

From the audience, participants representing various professions in the healthcare spectrum, from nurses to consultants, made their own submissions on the need to improve public health care.

Beyond the improved aesthetic of the stage-managed Labour roadshow (out with the strong reds, in with soothing, multi-coloured background), there was one remarkable aspect of Joseph Muscat's reach-out: the medical profession once bitten by past Labour governments was now in full view at a Labour national congress, and not just the white-coated electoral candidates. People like St James Hospital lab director Paul Sultana, a vocal critic of the government's effort to ban embryo freezing, was there to speak out.

Muscat's other 'coup' was his embrace of the private health sector (this was not mentioned by anybody of his audience, whose concept of healthcare was squarely based on public service): "The involvement of the private sector was absent during this discussion," Muscat, who busied himself during his listening time by jotting down urgent notes of importance, said.

"The private sector must work in tandem with the State and it must not be viewed as some antagonist but a strategic partner.

"The concept of public-private partnerships seems to have stopped at street roundabouts, but it must be the cornerstone of healthcare policy."

Muscat also took on observations about care workers being treated abusively inside the health sector, usually as a result of badly-paid third-party contracting services. "Government must set an example and blacklist companies that abuse workers. We must raise our game and look forward."

In addressing future challenges, Muscat pointed out he would work against bureaucracy and develop a charter of patients' rights mirroring EU cross-border rights, and extending the concept of an open, online government to the health sector.

"These are the challenges ahead. They won't be easy but we're ready to take them on with the participation and the good will of all stakeholders."

Audience members and Muscat also embraced the need to take primary healthcare further, by driving forward the concept of general surgeries and GPs as gatekeepers instead of throwing more strain on tertiary acute care at mater Dei. Carmel Grixti, who opened the session on healthcare, said resolving bed space at Mater Dei was not a matter of packing up the halls with more beds but improving primary and community care. "The solution to the problems inside Mater Dei lie beyond the hospital and in the community."