Patients stuck on waiting lists for two types of knee procedure will be offered free private treatment, the Health Ministry announced yesterday.
If we did not have any waiting lists at all, we would not be doing our job properly
The ministry will foot the bill in an effort to reduce waiting times for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) knee scans and arthroscopic surgery, where a camera is used to look inside the knee for diagnosis and treatment.
Three private hospitals and clinics agreed to meet the tariffs and other terms and conditions set for the procedures by the ministry.
Saint James Hospital in Sliema will carry out both types of operations, while Da Vinci Hospital in Birkirkara will do MRIs and St Anne’s Clinic in Birkirkara will do arthroscopic operations.
The Government is contracting out 1,000 arthroscopic operations and 400 MRI knee scans under the agreements but the ministry would not reveal how much the scheme will cost.
Health Minister Joe Cassar said the Government could never eliminate waiting lists, particularly because life expectancy has increased and more screening services were being offered to identify health problems.
“If we did not have any waiting lists at all we would not be doing our job properly because we would not be identifying enough people in need of interventions,” he said.
Dr Cassar said the Government had spent €26 million on outsourcing to private hospitals this year and would continue to identify waiting lists that could be reduced through public-private partnerships.
He cited breast reconstruction and other bone and eye procedures as areas already identified.
Non-urgent patients who have been on the knee operation waiting lists longest will be given priority.
Patients in urgent medical need of surgery will still be given priority at Mater Dei Hospital.
Five patients have already been contacted for private arthroscopic operations as have also been 400 MRI knee scan patients and about 80 scans have been performed under the agreement.
Chief medical officer Natasha Azzopardi Muscat said the waiting time for a non-urgent arthroscopic operation was 18 months and one year for a non-urgent MRI knee scan.
“These are simple, risk-free procedures that can easily be done in the private sector to cut waiting lists,” Ms Azzopardi Muscat explained.
This initiative follows the Government’s decision in August last year to privately outsource cataracts operations, a measure that helped to slash the waiting list from five years to 18 months for normal procedures.
About 1,500 patients have had free cataracts operations in the private sector since then.