No centralised data on hospital waiting lists

There are no centralised statistics for waiting lists at the hospital despite growing concern about the issue, The Times has learnt.

When asked for data concerning the waiting lists of at least three different operations such as cataracts, heart procedures and knee replacement surgery, the Social Policy Ministry was unable to give the information, saying that the "the data was not centralised but scattered throughout the different departments".

"The ministry together with the Health Department is working to have one data gathering system at Mater Dei Hospital, which includes both pending appointments and statistics regarding patients," a spokesman for the Social Policy Ministry said. "This would not only help the department in statistical terms but would also increase efficiency."

The revelation comes in the wake of an impassioned public exchange between Social Policy Minister John Dalli and former Health Minister Louis Deguara over Mr Dalli's description of the current waiting lists as "scandalous".

The day after Mr Dalli made his comments, Dr Deguara reacted in The Times saying that the comment was simplistic and reflected a poor knowledge of the real reasons behind the problem.

Mr Dalli did not respond and said instead that he "was not interested in being drawn into this type of debate but would rather stand to be judged by results".

While Dr Deguara emphasised the financial aspect, along with the problem with human resources, as one of the main contributing factors to waiting lists, Mr Dalli clearly put the problem down to mismanagement, insisting that the hospital needs a good, disciplined management that puts patients first.

The issue had become something of a hot potato last year and health itself was high on the agenda during the electoral campaign after Labour released a Cabinet document which, it used to argue, showed that the government had plans to finance the sector privately.

Beyond the political debate, however, growing waiting lists often affect the lives of the people they represent in a very severe way.

In a letter which appeared in this newspaper the day after Mr Dalli's comments were reported, a man complained about a relative of his who has lost sight from one eye while on the waiting list for a cataract operation and is risking losing the other eye because specialists are still operating on patients from the 2003 list.