Minister skirts question on Mount Carmel privatisation plans

Health minister Konrad Mizzi dodged a parliamentary question by shadow health minister Claudette Buttigieg on whether the government plans to privatise mental health services.

Buttigieg had asked whether the government intends to partially or wholly privatise the mental health services, in particular those offered at Mount Carmel.

However, in his response, Mizzi simply said that “all the government’s health services will remain free of charge to Maltese and Gozitan patients”.

Health parliamentary secretary Chris Fearne told MaltaToday last month that the government will this year issue a request for proposals for the construction of a new mental health hospital – the location of which is as yet undecided – and the refurbishment of Mount Carmel, whose costs are expected to run into the tens of millions. It will take the form of a public-private partnership, “similar to the investment in the St Luke’s, Karin Grech and Gozo hospitals”. 
He was non-committal on whether this will effectively result in the partial privatization of Mount Carmel, insisting that it will not be fully privatised and that services will remain free of charge.