Cancer patients will start using the new, 113-bed oncology hospital at the end of the year, according to Health Minister Godfrey Farrugia.
He said the gradual migration of patients from Boffa Hospital and the haematology and Rainbow wards at Mater Dei will start in the fourth quarter.
The move will eventually free up some space at Mater Dei as all cancer treatments and services are shifted to the oncology hospital.
Dr Farrugia said the new hospital will have 82 inpatient beds and 31 daycare beds, 18 more than originally planned.
Asked whether the increase in beds was enough to make up for the probability of a higher cancer incidence given an ageing population, Dr Farrugia said emphasis was being made on screening and early detection.
1,837
the number of people diagnosed with cancer last year
This would benefit patients because treating cancer early had a higher chance of success and reduced the pressure on inpatient beds, he added.
The country currently screens for breast and colorectal cancers in certain age groups and screening for cervical cancer will start this year.
Dr Farrugia was speaking at the start of a cancer awareness campaign to coincide with the Cancer Awareness Week that starts today and is marked internationally.
He said the oncology centre would also bring about the introduction of a new management set-up that would mean different specialisations receiving dedicated budgets.
Each strategic business management unit, as they are known in management-speak, will enjoy a level of autonomy.
Dr Farrugia said this would serve as a pilot study with the possibility of the model being adopted in other areas of the health sector in the 2015 Budget.
Charmaine Gauci, head of health promotion, said the focus of cancer week was on the need for people to speak about cancer and not to be scared of screening.
Last year cancer was diagnosed in 881 men and 956 women. The commonest in men were prostate, lung and colorectal cancers. In women it was breast, colorectal and uterus cancers.
ksansone@timesofmalta.com