A Gozitan eye surgeon has to regularly cancel operations because he is not making it to Mater Dei Hospital on time as he is not granted priority boarding on the ferry though his patients are.
Consultant ophthalmologist Franco Mercieca said he sometimes missed two morning ferries as he waited in the queue at Mġarr and got to the hospital more than an hour late. As a result, he had no choice but to cancel operations because his allocated theatre time would elapse before he carried out all scheduled surgeries.
“I need to be able to get to hospital on time in the interest of my patients... The situation is ridiculous... Gozitan patients who have an appointment at Mater Dei, for whatever reason, get a day permit that allows them to jump the queue. The situation is that the patient gets there on time and I don’t,” Mr Mercieca said, insisting he was not asking for a free ride as he paid for his ferry trips.
The eye specialist said he has had to cancel about seven operations every Monday. He called on Gozo Channel to help him work efficiently and give him back the priority boarding pass that was withdrawn about five months ago.
Gozo Channel chairman Joseph Grech said that while he did not wish to comment much on the subject, the matter was being looked into with the aim of finding a solution.
Mr Mercieca explained that he had a priority boarding pass until March when it was withdrawn by Gozo Channel. He was told the passes were being taken away because there had been cases of abuse.
“I’m sure there were such cases... but I’m the only Gozitan surgeon who works in Malta... They’re not allowing me to get to work on time to get the surgeries done at Mater Dei and then they are paying to have (cataract) surgeries done privately. It’s ridiculous,” he said.
Earlier this month, Health Minister Joseph Cassar announced that the government would be outsourcing cataract operations to Saint James Hospital and St Anne’s Clinic to reduce waiting lists.
Mr Mercieca explained that he usually woke up at about 5.30 a.m. to travel to the hospital in Malta where he was allocated theatre time every Monday morning and on alternate Tuesdays, starting at 8.30 a.m. He had to be at the hospital an hour early to tend to outpatient cases and carry out corneal transplants that were scheduled early not to impinge on the cataract waiting list. But since he was no longer allowed priority boarding, he often ended up waiting for about an hour to get on the ferry and arrived in hospital late. This was compounded by the fact that on Monday mornings there were many Gozitans crossing over for their week of work in Malta. Besides, once every four weeks he was the weekly eye surgeon on call and was expected to rush to Malta if there was an emergency, he said.