Other measures

• The Pharmacy of Your Choice scheme will continue being rolled out next year, with another 50,000 patients being able to pick up the medicines they are entitled to for free from their chosen private pharmacy with an investment of almost €1 million. The scheme was introduced in some localities last year, but the roll-out across the country was stopped in July 2008 so the system could be evaluated. Some 31,000 patients from 27 localities are currently picking up their medicines from a private pharmacy.

• A new €1.5 million Blood Transfusion Centre will be built.

• The much-awaited document on primary health reform is expected to be published for national consultation in the coming days.

• Plans are under way to extend the homes for the elderly in Mtarfa and Msida. There are plans to build flatlets adjoining the Mtarfa Home which will be used for Shared Supportive Housing, a concept that was already tried successfully with patients with mental health problems. New day centres are planned for Mellieħa and Siġġiewi together with the already-announced night shelter in Żejtun. An outreach team, made up of a group of professionals, will be set up with a vote of €600,000 to help the elderly keep on living within the community.

• Rehabilitation services at Zammit Clapp Hospital will be transferred to Karin Grech Hospital, which is currently undergoing infrastructural changes, and €2 million have been voted for the hospital's maintenance.

• A Crisis Intervention Service will be set up to help victims of attempted suicide.

• The government is also expected to acquire a Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scanner, a very important tool of investigation, especially in cancer patients because it does not only look at the spread of the disease but also how cancer was responding to treatment. A special chemical with a very short shelf life is needed for the scans and Mr Fenech did not specify whether the government would be building a production plant or whether it would be importing the chemical. The first PET scanner on the island was bought by Saint James Hospital recently, with an investment of more than €2 million. Other technologies and cardiac imaging are being evaluated and considered.