Former Health Minister Joe Cassar and ex-Parliamentary Secretary Mario Galea, as well as fellow Nationalist MPs Michael Gonzi and Stephen Spiteri, both family doctors, yesterday demanded that the Government spell out clear health policies for the future.
Otherwise, they warned, Malta could lose what it had achieved during past PN administrations.
Asking whether the “meals on wheels service” would be means tested, Dr Cassar said that the new Labour Administration was already falling into the category of the “have-nots”. He said the President’s speech gave no clear vision of the health sector.
The major challenge was not Mater Dei Hospital but the strengthening of primary and secondary health care.
When would the outpatient department start remaining open until 8pm?
Dr Cassar asked whether the minister doubted the work done by personnel in the emergency department by installing his office there when ministerial offices were in the administrative part of the hospital. Would the Gozo hospital be managed from Valletta?
He also called for the opening of the Mosta health centre and the start of refurbishment works at the Rabat health centre.
Mr Galea said nominating Labour MP Anthony Agius Decelis to St Vincent de Paul was a wrong decision. He needed to have a defined role both in his interest and of those who needed to conduct scrutiny.
Dr Gonzi said waiting lists for operations had shortened drastically and that in 2012 the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses (MUMN) had identified a number of problems which had to be tackled at Mater Dei and in primary and secondary care.
Out-of-stock medicines was another issue that needed to be addressed.
He said it was impossible to solve the problems in the emergency department in two weeks, adding that in April, pressure tended to ease while increasing again in the summer months. This problem could be tackled with more people seeking assistance at health centres. Admission protocols had to be changed.
Dr Spiteri said that while Labour in opposition had criticised the health sector, the PN in government had invested more in this sector and provided more free medicine.
It had also extended the Pharmacy Of Your Choice system to more than 70 pharmacies.
The PN in government had also given the opportunity of free education to those who wanted to pursue medical studies. Junior doctors were not sent abroad but were educated further by Maltese medical experts.
An agreement had been concluded under which Maltese people were able to undergo lung transplants in Italy.
Health Minister Godfrey Farrugia retorted that the health sector had inherited various challenges from the previous administration, among them the situation at Mater Dei and Karin Grech hospitals, the Mental Health Act and the implementation of IVF policy.
Developing the IVF concept from scratch, he said, had been left up to the new Government, since the previous Administration had not even allocated the necessary human resources.
Furthermore, a number of measures, such as the Myhealth scheme and colorectal screening, had been launched haphazardly, to make it in time before the election.
Despite the fact that the Health Ministry had inherited a considerable €63 million debt, it remained committed to providing adequate services, and the budgetary allocation was testament to the Government’s commitment to people’s health. Furthermore, the Government would also honour a €1.5 million allocation to the Pharmacy Of Your Choice scheme made by the previous Government months before the election and a €7 million allocation to collective agreements with three unions.
He said waiting lists for operations and outpatients had to go down to more acceptable levels. Over 4,000 appointments had been “moved aside” before the election, to hide the fact that appointments were being made for 2014, and even 2015. Dr Farrugia said they were rescheduling these appointments.
A more avant garde attitude, coupled with a solid management framework, was needed to overcome these challenges. The only way to consolidate and improve the health sector situation was by taking more decisive action.
Parliamentary Secretary Dr Franco Mercieca said it was society’s duty to see that people with disabilities led a dignified and an independent life. He assured parents that the Government would take care of their children through the various policies that were going to be put into place.
The Government, he said, sought to enact two pieces of legislation, one dealing with the administration of elderly people’s homes and the other the protection of elderly and vulnerable people against abuse from professionals and family members.
In his maiden speech to Parliament, cardiologist Albert Fenech donated a portable defibrillator to the House of Representatives.
The Nationalist MP said he was making the donation on behalf of the Malta Heart Foundation since stress levels could be high in Parliament.
The defibrillator, a device used to treat certain life-threatening heart conditions, was sponsored by Technoline Ltd. He said that training would be provided on its use.
In his speech Prof. Fenech warned of the dangers of stress to people’s health, adding he had long campaigned for defibrillators to be made available in public places.