The Opposition will today be presenting a motion in Parliament calling for a legal amendment that would allow entitled patients to receive State-funded treatment in local private hospitals.

Currently, Maltese patients who are not cared for in government hospitals are entitled to receive State-funded treatment overseas but not in private hospitals in Malta

This was “illogical”, Opposition leader Simon Busuttil argued yesterday, and its proposal was a “win-win situation”.

It benefits patients... and it will not cost the taxpayer one cent extra

“It benefits patients, the government will be addressing waiting lists, and it will also help private hospitals.

“And it will not cost the taxpayer one cent extra,” Dr Busuttil said.

He was addressing the media before holding a meeting with representatives from three private hospitals – St Anne’s Clinic, Da Vinci Hospital and St James Hospital. The meeting, held at the PN headquarters, was held as part of a series of events leading up to the May 24 MEP elections.

Dr Busuttil, and PN spokesman on health Claudio Grech, explained that last year Malta transposed the EU Directive on Patients’ Rights in Cross-Border Healthcare into Maltese law through the Health Act.

The purpose of the directive is to have standard and easier procedures to enable EU citizens to access medical services in other member states if they are not treated by the local health service within a reasonable timeframe.

Soon after, a legal notice (389 of 2013) came into force to regulate the manner in which patients were to benefit from cross-border healthcare. An article within the legal notice states that: “No costs shall be reimbursed in relation to healthcare provided by local private healthcare providers.”

Mr Grech said the PN motion, that will be presented today, would seek to amend this part of the legal notice to include private healthcare providers as an option for patients.

He added that the Opposition would also be calling on the government to publish online the list of prices of medical interventions and also to publish the list of interventions that require prior authorisation from government.

Dr Busuttil reiterated that the PN government believed in working closely with private hospitals and had, in fact, reached several agreements in a bid to cut waiting lists. The agreements were stopped by the Labour government only to be rekindled two weeks ago.

He said the PN still believed private hospitals had an important role to play and suggested that a long-term agreement be drawn up with the private sector to offer competitive prices.

He added that private hospitals should also be granted access to investment aid so that they could make the necessary investments needed to reach their optimal operational capacity.