Government accused of ignoring problems at Mater Dei Hospital

The government must publish the “real figures” on Mater Dei Hospital and start recognizing the problems that afflict the hospital, the Nationalist Party said this afternoon.

Addressing a joint press conference outside the hospital, shadow health minister Claudette and shadow social policy minister Paula Mifsud Bonnici accused the government of “lying” to hospital patients and vulnerable people.

They insisted that the government had used the latest hospital performance report to boast of itself rather than “addressing reality and solve the waiting lists problem”.

Admissions to Mater Dei hospital have gradually increased since 2008, with the numbers now reaching 90,000 patients, Mater Dei CEO Ivan Falzon told the press during the release of the 2015 Hospital Activity Report.

Amongst other, elective surgeries have reached a record high.

However, Buttigieg and Mifsud Bonnici insisted that the government had failed to recognise the real issues, including an increase in the waiting lists. They noted that persons who needed an appointment with a specialist had to wait for over a year. They insisted that only five consultants were employed last year, but were not specialised in the medical or surgical fields.

Referring to comments made by the Medical Association of Malta, Mifsud Bonnici said people at risk of poverty were most affected. She noted, that whilst a well-off person can seek private healthcare, those who could not afford had to wait.