I just cannot understand how Health Minister Joseph Cassar goes to sleep at night with a clear conscience.

I happen to work in a place where I am in touch with the pains and laments of the man in the street.

Recently I came across two cases which are unacceptable in today’s society. While we speak of a state-of-the-art hospital, an appointment for physiotherapy (at the former St Luke’s Hospital) takes six weeks to be set up.

If you survive six weeks, then you get another appointment for some time in the future. If you think you are unable to survive the six weeks you could opt for a private physiotherapist and pay for him through the nose!

In a second case, a friend of mine explained how last Thursday he required an appointment for one of his daughters to see an endoscopy specialist. I am told the first available appointment is July 2013.

If you need endoscopy... again God knows when and how many months later you will get an appointment!

So he resorted to a private hospital and one of the specialists, who has a never-ending list of appointments at Mater Dei, gladly saw his daughter and informed him that he could even perform an endoscopy privately at this same hospital within a week at the cost of €1,000.

Minister Cassar should wake up to the stark reality. The health system needs a revamp. What was acceptable in the past is not acceptable any more. If he does not like the tone of these words, he would do well to resign and leave this job to someone who cares more.

He needs to spend his last few days in-house at Mater Dei and have a closer look at the system. Who calls the shots at Mater Dei? Has the ministry no clue?

I, for one, do not want to see an oncology hospital with a waiting list of a year or more. I would prefer having the professional at my side instead of the cool blue curtain or access to internet.

Again it is a priority issue. If we do not have the funds to sustain our specialists to work longer hours at Mater Dei, then we need to tap such funds first, anything else is secondary.

We cannot have a consultant who works most hours privately, and gets paid a hefty sum for doing that, and very few hours at Mater Dei.

You can of course do that once there are no waiting lists. But you need to first contribute towards that goal. Of course it is not only the consultants who need to come to terms with reality but the system itself needs to be revamped.

There is only one word that can describe the health system today – shambolic. If Minister Cassar really wants to pick up the pieces he has to grab the bull by the horns. It is a difficult task, but the man in the street who cannot afford private health care cannot be let down and sent to the gutter.

I would ask him to take a day off from his ministry’s paper work and spend at least half a day at the reception desk at Mater Dei.