Muscat claims health charges, publishes report, PN denial

Labour leader Joseph Muscat this evening published a report commissioned by the government last August which he said proposes the scrapping of health centres and the introduction of a patient registration system, with people being required to go to their GP and paying for the services.

He said the report belied government claims that it had not discussed the introduction of payment for health services.

Dr Muscat first revealed the report, entitled Report on the implementation of a patient registration system in Malta during Bondi plus. It can be downloaded from www.direzzjonisuccess.eu.

Dr Muscat said the Prime Minister's credibility had reached a new low, because before the general election he had repeatedly promised that health services would remain free of charge.

This report, commissioned just two months after the general elections, had been discussed in the Cabinet , Dr Muscat said.

He said the report said that all persons should be required to register with a doctor and only some 10,400 would have been exempted from the system, the rest, therefore, being required to pay for medical services.

PN DENIAL

The Nationalist Party said that Dr Muscat was twisting facts and, as before the general election, he was using health services as a political football.

It said Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi had already declared that the recommendation to close the health centres had been rejected by the government because these centres provided services free of charge to those who went to them. Health services would remain free of charge.

It said the government was, however, committed to improved primary health care, including giving GPs access to medical records in hospitals and health centres.