The government is in discussions with nurses’ representatives in a bid to increase nurses’ working hours as part of a package intended to ensure that operations could be held.

Health Parliamentary Secretary Chris Fearne told PL MP Anthony Agius Decelis and PN health spokesman Claudio Grech in reply to parliamentary questions that the government was even taking on more anaestheticians for the same purpose.

He pointed out that operations could sometimes not be carried out in spite of the availability of the surgeon because of the lack of support staff.

Mr Fearne also said talks were also underway with the unions representing doctors and nurses to see how best to reduce the times during which halls were unutilised in a bid to continue reducing waiting lists.

He said that between January and September this year there were 1,136 cases of elective surgery that had been cancelled. The various reasons included the patient not having shown up, or having been found not to be in a good-enough condition for surgery, or family problems.

Mr Fearne pointed out that the figure should be seen against a backdrop of some 50,000 operations carried out at MDH. Comparative figures for cancellations of surgery stood at 1,540 in 2012 and 1,534 for 2013.