Gozitan cancer patients will have to wait longer to start receiving chemotherapy in Gozo since the Health Ministry said it cannot implement the service promised by the previous government due to lack of funds.
I know firsthand that the journey to Malta to get chemo is like hell
Given an average 10 to 11 patients from Gozo attend the day care unit at Sir Paul Boffa Hospital every week, and the lack of availability of funds, the capital project devised by the previous administration cannot be implemented and is currently being re-modelled using existing facilities at the Gozo General Hospital, a Health Ministry spokesman said.
He said revised cost projections were being drawn up and funds had to be identified since they were not allocated in the 2013 Budget.
Chemotherapy is not offered in Gozo and cancer patients have to travel to Malta each time they need the life-saving therapy.
Florence Gates, a 73-year-old cancer patient who lives in Gozo, said the delay in the service due to funds was “frustrating to hear”.
“I completed my treatment, but I know firsthand that the journey to Malta to get chemo is like hell… In Malta they’re building an oncology centre but, in Gozo we’re forgotten,” she told The Sunday Times of Malta.
She described the “dreadful” journey, which meant getting up at 5am to be at the Gozo Hospital to get the hospital minivan and catch the 7.30am ferry. She returned home at about 4pm, completely exhausted.
The Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses said: “There are patients who are dying because they are too weak to travel to Malta. Hopefully the Government’s pre-election commitment to introduce chemotherapy in Gozo was not just an election gimmick.”
The MUMN said there were already trained nurses in Gozo who were waiting for the service to be implemented so they could start administering chemotherapy.
The plight faced by Gozitan cancer patients came to light last September following the resignation of the head of Mater Dei Hospital’s Oncology Department, Stephen Brincat.
He said he resigned because the Government was ignoring his advice on essential issues, including the introduction of chemotherapy in Gozo.
In October, former Health Minister Joseph Cassar said chemotherapy in Gozo should start “within the next couple of months” as nurses were being trained.
During the election campaign both former Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi and Joseph Muscat said that offering the service was a priority.
The Sunday Times of Malta recently sent questions to the Health Ministry asking what stage the service had reached. A spokesman said the ministry was reviewing the proposal to offer chemotherapy in Gozo.
“We are currently in the capacity building stage, with three nurses having been identified and receiving training at Boffa Hospital. Further details will be announced shortly.”
When asked to elaborate, the spokesman added that the estimated cost of the project, excluding equipment, exceeded €450,000.
Gozo General Hospital had a capital allocation for the period January-March 2013 of €200,000 of which only €80,000 were committed for the chemotherapy project.
Over 50 per cent of this amount was committed for equipment not included in the €450,000 estimated cost, he said, adding that there was therefore a discrepancy of some €400,000 which was required to implement the project.