PET scanner agreement for Mater Dei to be signed tomorrow

An agreement for Mater Dei Hospital to acquire a PET scanner for cancer patients will be signed tomorrow, Friday, the Ministry of Health said today.

It said that until the scanner is commissioned, patients can continue to benefit from the arrangements announced last month whereby patients are referred to scans in a private hospital, with the government footing the bill.

The ministry was reacting to comments by Labour MP Michael Farrugia, who asked what had become of funds allocated for the setting up of Oncology and Dermatology Units at Mater Dei. (See separate story)

The government said the Opposition first criticised the building of Mater Dei, then recognised its qualities and now was going back to its criticism.

It said that the number of operations at Mater Dei had increased by 6,000 per year compared to St Luke's Hospital, while the pathology department conducted 500,000 more tests in a year.

A new oncology centre would be built at Mater Dei. In the meantime, a new linear accelerator for cancer treatment has also been purchased to be used at Boffa Hospital.

The ministry insisted that costs for the building at Mater Dei had only increased because of new demands by the government in line with developments in the medical sector.

This was in contrast with other countries which were scaling back spending because of economic conditions.