Nobody in his wildest imagination would have thought that Queen Mary University (Barts Hospital) was going to open a medical school in Gozo and that within two years or so we were going to have a new hospital in Gozo. As a Gozitan and a doctor working at Gozo General Hospital, I welcome this news with joy.

There are huge implications in this project, financially, politically and socially. Among the benefits are the new hospital facilities and clinical services, new jobs and career opportunities for Gozitans, a big boost to the tourist and economy of Gozo, and improvement in its standard of medical care.

The hardest problems will be certain legacy assets in particular staff with established work methods. These hurdles needed long negotiating with the respective unions. It seems now that a final agreement is in the offing. So there are certain risks both on the macro- and the micro-economic levels.

The EU Council in June 2011 stated that if unaddressed, the scale and urgency of the health situation could become “a crucial factor in the future economic and social landscape of the EU”. It also invited the member states to shift health policy from being regarded as just a cost centre to being a knowledge contributor of economic competitiveness and growth. In my opinion the government is precisely addressing this issue on these lines.

So far Private Public Partnerships (PPP) programmes in Malta contribute less than one per cent of the total health sector investment. By comparison, in the UK, PPPs form up to 40 per cent. Studies in the EU show that few patients are aware of the ownership of the hospital they go to, and fewer still care.

Patient satisfaction rates are often high and do not depend on the ownership type. I hope that these and related issues will be resolved for the benefit of all Gozitans and the Maltese economy in general.

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