The open weekend at Mater Dei Hospital was an astounding success. The sheer numbers, about 80,000, speak for themselves. As I have publicly remarked, the government took possession of Mater Dei on Friday and celebrated the event in style, while in the next two days the Maltese people took over. We have been asked what the purpose of these open days was, since it has been claimed there is no need for the government to advertise its free services. Nay, one joker wrote that the event provided definite proof that the government intended to charge for its services.
After the long years of allegations, accusations and sheer lies, I feel nobody should deny us the pride and satisfaction on the completion of the biggest project, in terms of size and complexity, ever embarked on by a Maltese government. And no one deserves it more than Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi who took the bull by the horns in 2004 and demanded that the hospital be finished within a fixed time-frame and at a set price.
But the real significance of the throngs choking Mater Dei is that the people were given the opportunity to own the project and to see for themselves not only where their taxes were spent but, even more, to taste what excellence means. Why is this important? Dr Gonzi's war on mediocrity and insistence on excellence needs a culture change to succeed. If this crowded island is to compete successfully in a globalised world it is imperative we leave behind us our laid-back Mediterranean culture and aim for Nordic efficiency without, however, losing our traditional warmth and other values that distinguish us. We don't want L-Aqwa u l-Ahjar (the very best) to remain a slogan.
It is an attainable vision that has to be given flesh, and what better way than Mater Dei to sell the concept to the people? Wasn't it a joy listening to well known old timers exuding satisfaction from every pore just wishing they were 30 or 20 years younger to be able to work in Mater Dei with its state-of-the-art equipment?
A pat on the back for the organisers who availed themselves of the opportunity to promote a healthy eating culture and blood donation!
I can almost hear giggles by the usual cynics pointing to the innumerable failings and shoddiness around us, naturally not including their own. Of course these exist but the seeds of excellence have been sown in various areas and some are already showing and bearing fruit. Instead of carping, the cynics, if not the doomers and gloomers, would do better to join us in our efforts to raise standards besides expectations all around. This is all the more important since, far from embracing the culture of excellence, the Labour Party is persisting in its policy of make-do and mediocrity. What other conclusion can one draw on hearing last weekend's unsolicited comment by Alfred Sant that were it for him he would never have approved the building of this hospital. Indeed, the culture of excellence has not taken on. Last Friday, as everyone could predict, various bubbles finally and decisively burst in our detractors' faces. The first-class hospital was finished on time and within budget as agreed in 2004. It is really state of the art as had been planned.
The latest accusation that we had not thought of a helicopter pad was blasted by the helicopter taking off at the ceremony. They had made quite a fuss that, originally, it was planned that the helicopter would be able to land on the roof. I bet that had we done so they would have accused us that we were throwing some Lm200,000 down the drain.
Meanwhile, the opposition will have some more time to gripe and to inflate the same old bubbles. Up to a few weeks ago they accused us that the hospital did not have enough beds. They brought up the overcrowding at St Luke's Hospital to support their charge. They betrayed themselves that they had neither grasped the nature of an acute hospital nor the increasing reliance of modern medicine on day surgery. No wonder they had planned for a 1,000-bed hospital in 1997! This bubble will soon burst once and for all. Now they will be continuously grousing that there are no patients at Mater Dei. Some will be taken in for some time. The hospital is ready. The medical equipment is in place. The furniture is there.
We have already said that the migration phase is one of the most delicate because it involves patients. In our case, it is more difficult because we have only one acute hospital. Had we more than one we could have had the luxury of accepting acute patients in other hospitals until the services at SLH are transferred to Mater Dei.
We have already said that the overriding principle is the safety of patients. No patient will be put at risk. The ideal would have been for patients at SLH to stay there until they are sent home and only new patients are admitted to Mater Dei. But this is not practical. But we'll strive so that the minimum number of patients will have to move from one hospital to the other. Pressure will be put on us. We will not budge. The end result will justify our cautiousness and plain good sense.
The allegation that this was a hospital for the rich is increasingly growing thinner. They are still making a fuss about the envisaged recurrent expenditure. This alarm bell has been taken up by others. Little do some people realise that the recurrent health budget is running over Lm100 million a year. SLH costs us Lm48 million a year. So those trying to panic the public by mentioning the figure of Lm 1.2 million weekly cost for Mater Dei do not really know what they are saying.
These figures are being used in a feeble attempt to make Labour's allegation that we will charge fees in Mater Dei credible. This very week a columnist wrote that the government is not clear about this concern. The Prime Minister has more than once stressed that, as long as the economy produces wealth, there is no need to introduce cost sharing. All those services which are free today in SLH will remain so in Mater Dei. Can we be clearer than that?
Our main immediate task will be the implementation of our migration plan. But just as important is the implementation of our strategy to restructure, expand and upgrade our oncology, rehabilitation facilities and our services for the elderly. Just as crucial are our plans to enhance the quality and quantity of our human resources. To underpin, consolidate and sustain all the above we will move fast to lay our plans for community care.
The pursuit of excellence, L-Aqwa u L-Ahjar, has to embrace the whole health service.
Dr Deguara is Minister of Health, the Elderly and Community Services.