Opposition demands answers on the health service

Opposition health spokesman Joe Cassar has called on Minister Godfrey Farrugia to explain how the government would keep its electoral promise that health services would remain free of charge.

Dr Cassar was speaking in Parliament on the reply to the President’s speech on the inauguration of the Legislature.

He requested the minister to confirm or deny that patients at Mater Dei were to be requested to bring free medicines given to them under the Pharmacy of your choice scheme for personal use during their stay in hospital. He also called on the Minister to deny rumours that arthroscopy operations (knee operations) in private hospitals paid for by the government were to stop.

He said the Health budgetary vote had always been in deficit but the previous government had found ways to finance the sector through budgetary votes taken from other ministries.

Dr Cassar said that nurses were being deployed at the Mount Carmel hospital without the management of that hospital being informed, and without any consultation with the nurses’ union MUMN. He claimed that this showed the government’s arrogance contrary to what had been stated in the President’s speech that piques had to come to an end.

The government had also been arrogant in employing workers in ministerial secretariats without any contract of work.

He also said that free health services were reduced when the government ended the agreement for private hospitals to provide emergency treatment to patients during the weekend.130 patients had availed themselves of this service every weekend.

He said that the present government felt that financial cost effectiveness was more important than patients’ interest.

Dr Cassar questioned whether the minister truly believed that setting up office in the Emergency Department would solve any problems in the health sector, and whether he failed to realise that in so doing it had undermined and embarrassed the hospital’s management. He said it was up to government to explain the management’s role now, as it deserved to know.

For years the Labour Party in opposition had been saying it had things all mapped out, how it would be tackling excessive waiting times and out of stock medicines, but now the Minister had said there was a real problem with the former. Dr Cassar said he had been saying this for a long time.

In the 70 days it has been in office , one would have expected the government to  present  plans at least, he said.

He also asked how plans for regional hubs instead of health centres would be financed.