Labour: PET scan deal is good but...

The Labour Party has welcomed the agreement between the government and the private sector for the provision of PET scans until the government installs its own scanner at Mater Dei Hospital.

However, it called on the government to publish the agreement signed on Tuesday, which was described as a "historic chapter" in Malta's health service by Health Minister Joseph Cassar.

PL spokesman Michael Farrugia said the Labour government had reached a similar agreement for MRI scans in 1997.

He expressed the hope that during the negotiations the government kept in mind that it regularly loaned, free of charge, medical equipment to the private sector, in certain cases to the detriment of the Gozo Hospital.

He criticised the fact that patients were denied the PET scan service for many years, in spite of several requests by specialists.

The Health Ministry denied that equipment was loaned to the detriment of the Gozo Hospital and said the lending was done in the interest of the patients themselves.

It criticised the opposition for obscuring the initiative instead of praising it and said partisan politics were not good for patients.

The €2 million PET scanner shows how tissues are functioning, proving invaluable in cancer patients since it allows doctors to see whether there are still live cancer cells. It can help doctors decide which treatment to go for.