Chemotherapy in Gozo will start being offered by the end of this year and, till then, Gozitan cancer patients will be provided with free transport to Malta, Health Minister Godfrey Farrugia said last night.

Former Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi had said that offering chemotherapy in Gozo would cost €600,000. However, Dr Farrugia said, only €80,000 was allocated to the service in Budget 2013.

“We didn’t give up and will not use this as an excuse not to give the service,” he said adding his ministry had managed to slash the cost to €200,000 that would include a waiting area for Gozo General Hospital’s day surgery patients.

The Sunday Times of Malta reported the Health Ministry saying it could not offer chemotherapy in Gozo for now, a measure promised by the previous government, due to lack of funds.

The ministry cited the average of 10 to 11 patients from Gozo attending the day care unit at Sir Paul Boffa Hospital every week, saying the capital project was being “re-scoped” using existing facilities at the Gozo General Hospital.

In a statement issued earlier yesterday, the Nationalist Party said this was just an excuse and called on the Labour government to reconsider its decision to postpone the implementation of chemotherapy services on the sister island, saying they had been promised by Labour during the election campaign. “If this decision is not rectified it will only mean suffering for Gozitan patients,” the PN said in a statement.

The previous administration had already identified nurses and other paramedic staff and some had already been transferred to Gozo following training at Sir Paul Boffa Hospital, the PN said.

The former government had also issued a call for tenders to equip the chemotherapy unit at the Gozo hospital.