45 cars were clamped at Mater Dei in March

Malta's health service may be free of charge, but if patients are not careful they may end up parting with €35 (Lm15.03) for parking their car in the wrong spot at Mater Dei Hospital.

Last month alone, 45 patients or visitors were forced to pay the fine after their car was clamped at the new hospital.

When contacted, both hospital superintendent Frank Bartolo and Joe Theuma, the chief operations officer of CT Park which runs the hospital's parking services, emphasised that parking regulations must be respected.

"We have a parking policy and there are rules and regulations," Dr Bartolo said, adding that patients who visited the hospital regularly for treatment - like renal dialysis or the parents of children treated for cancer - were given a special permit to park for free.

Moreover, anyone who accompanies a patient to the casualty department may park in front of the emergency department for free until he accompanies the patient inside. Day care patients also have a specially designated car park.

Mr Theuma said the parking company made an effort to be sensitive since its primary aim was to create awareness. "We treat each case on its own merits," he said, adding that there were many occasions when fines were waived.

However, Bishop Emeritus Nikol Cauchi was forced to pay the clamping fee after undergoing a heart procedure at the hospital.

The 79-year-old bishop's car was inadvertently parked in one of the disabled bays by a priest who accompanied Mgr Cauchi to the relevant area of the hospital and stayed with him throughout the procedure.

Even when the circumstances were explained, the bishop was made to pay the fee - even though Mr Theuma said that he would have waived it had he been present.

Mr Theuma underlined the need for parking discipline, or, he said, ambulances could face a problem entering hospital, while people with special needs would not find a place to park.

"Can you imagine having a place like Mater Dei that receives thousands of visitors not safeguarded by regulations?," he asked rhetorically, adding that some 2,500 vehicles enter the hospital's grounds daily.

Mater Dei Hospital clamps anyone who does not park in the correct area... including elderly bishops undergoing heart procedures. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli.