5,787 persons on waiting list for ultrasound at Mater Dei

Over 23,000 patients were on the national health service's waiting list for operations and interventions as of 9 October 2012. The figures, revealed by health minister Joe Cassar, only include the cardiology, orthopaedic and ophthalmology departments.

Cassar was answering a Parliamentary question tabled by Labour MP Anthony Agius Decelis. The minister gave a detailed breakdown of the number of patients on the waiting lists and the largest number of patients on the lists are expecting services from the radiology department.

5,787 patients await an ultrasound, 2,687 are on the waiting list for an MRI scan, another 1,476 patients are waiting for a CT scan and 782 persons are waiting for a mamography.

In the cardiology department, a further 353 patients are on the list for a angiogram. In the other departments, over 3,200 patients are waiting to have a cataract removal, while over 1,400 are on the waiting list for a knee arthroscopy.

Another 1,600 are on the waiting list for total knee replacements, 1,200 for dental services and 565 in the gynaecology department.

Recently, health authorities revealed that in the first 8 months of 2012 Mater Dei Hospital registered 30,500 operations, an increase of 1,580 over the same period last year.

In 2011, a total of 44,000 operations were performed, an increase of 2,000 operations over the previous year, and 11,000 more when compared to the last year of operation of the former general hospital, St Luke's Hospital.