Mater Dei Hospital officials refused to provide healthcare to an elderly foreign woman until she settled an outstanding bill, leaving her in pain for several months, according to the Ombudsman.

The Health Commissioner reported that the woman, who resides at St Vincent de Paul Residence, had needed to undergo surgery but hospital authorities refused to give the go-ahead.

They had insisted she pay her outstanding bill for previous hospitalisation, which amounted to several thousand euros.

In her testimony, the woman explained that she was in so much pain that she could barely walk and even sitting upright had become challenging.

An investigation by the commissioner showed that the patient had come to Malta with her son from a non-EU country but had fallen destitute when he passed away, rendering payment of the bills impossible.

The commissioner quizzed the hospital authorities on the matter but was informed that since the patient had outstanding bills, “only life or death operations/procedures could be performed” and the medical intervention she needed was not considered as such. The patient had herself asked the authorities for the bills to be waived on humanitarian grounds as there was no way she could pay them.

An appointment at the Outpatients Department was even scheduled but when the complainant went there, she was not seen by the consultant because the approval to waive the outstanding bills had not been granted.

The woman eventually received the treatment late last year, only after former health minister Godfrey Farrugia intervened, insisting the bills be waived. The commissioner had also told the authorities that the patient should be treated and her bills cleared.

His recommendations, however, came within a matter of weeks of Dr Farrugia’s intervention, by which time the patient had been given an appointment the very same day.