Orthopaedic waiting list halved

The waiting list for orthopaedic operations was slashed by half after an internal audit found that a number of patients had already been operated on while others were listed twice, Health Minister Joe Cassar said yesterday.

The length of the orthopaedic surgery list decreased by 49 per cent and work on the lists of surgery and medical operations was about to start, Dr Cassar said.

Also, in an attempt to reduce waiting lists, two operating theatres will be used for cataract operations in April, he added.

Giving an overview of his ministry's work in the past year, Dr Cassar said around €22 million was spent on free medicines - an increase of 6.4 per cent over 2008.

The government introduced five new drugs to treat cancer of the lungs, kidneys, brain and white blood cells.

A study on all the disposable material used in the hospital's wards and operating theatres saved the government around €101,856, Dr Cassar said.

When asked about the long-awaited national sexual health policy, which had been promised by the government for the past years, Dr Cassar said the final touches were being made to its three-year budget. "It should be done by this week, then it will go to Cabinet and then for public consultation," he said.

Plans were underway to improve the health care system and work on the shortage of staff. A call for expressions of interest was published last week for a new health centre in the Gżira, Sliema and Msida area, and another public call was made for 200 nurses and 30 pharmacists.

The doctors' brain drain also seemed to have slowed down as fewer doctors were leaving for training in the UK since the foundation course programme was introduced in 2009.

"Before it was introduced, 39 out of 41 new doctors found a job in the UK. This year only 13 left," Dr Cassar said.

More than 101,439 patients visited the emergency department at Mater Dei Hospital but of these just 30 per cent had a medical referral. From the daily average of 278 patients who visited emergency, only 50 were admitted to hospital, Dr Cassar said.

Speaking about the controversial primary health reform, which has drawn criticism from Nationalist MP family doctors, Dr Cassar pointed out that nothing was yet defined.

"Many meetings were held and the government received a huge amount of feedback from all sectors. Now we will go back to the drawing board and take note of what was listed as positive and not," he said.

The Pharmacy of Your Choice scheme that allowed people to pick up their free medicines from private pharmacies would be extended to Gozo next year.

So far, there are 31,000 patients registered with the scheme which is on offer in 68 pharmacies. However, the government plans to extend it by another 100,000 over the next two years.

Parliamentary Secretary for the Elderly Mario Galea, who also addressed the press conference, said 219 elderly people were transferred last year from Mater Dei Hospital to a home for the elderly.

He had harsh words for families who "irresponsibly" abandoned their elderly relatives at hospital.

"This idea of leaving people at hospital has to stop - the elderly are not the government's responsibility but the family's," he said.

Turning to the swine flu vaccines, Mr Galea said the government had bought 340,500 vaccines for around €3 million - of these, 100,000 were administered while another 83,500 were returned to the pharmaceutical company.