Those who have been to Mater Dei Hospital, whether as patients or visitors, are likely to bless the huge investment made by the country. Facilities are state-of-the-art and the standard of service generally exceeds that offered in the past. Yet, complaints abound.

The most frequent complaints aired must be the long waits, especially at Casualty or Emergency, followed by the long waiting lists, even if last year, doctors, with the support of nursing and paramedical staff, performed 39,000 procedures, or 2,768 more than in the previous year. This is attributed to an increase in extra operating theatre sessions and an extension of some surgeons' theatre lists. Even more procedures could have been done but not all consultants who asked for extra sessions or extended lists were accommodated. The latest available statistics, dating back to last June, show that 22,621patients were still on the waiting list, down by 105 on January 2009. The system in place and an ageing population can only ensure waiting lists will remain!

Because the advent of the new hospital raised expectations sky-high, any reported shortcomings are likely to be given more attention and, hence, do more damage to the service offered at Mater Dei. This is what happened when, recently, the people heard of a patient who was resuscitated in a corridor after suffering a heart attack, a woman who gave birth on a stretcher in an examination room rather than in a delivery room and when parts of the Emergency Department and corridors were being used as a ward.

Evidently, there are a number of problems facing Mater Dei.

There is a shortfall of nurses and more are needed for a larger patient throughput to be possible. The duration of the nursing course and the on-the-job training required in certain instances, not to mention the working conditions, must be looked into.

There is, then, a shortfall of doctors with many graduates leaving for better conditions of work.

Mater Dei has officially about 100 fewer beds than St Luke's Hospital had but wards at St Luke's could be stretched, in emergencies, to accommodate an extra 15 patients in each. Thus, the real bed shortfall is, in reality, higher than 100. The medical profession had predicted such a bed shortage when the hospital was being planned but it was argued that more day surgery would solve the problem. It had also been said that there would be no social cases at the new hospital. Worryingly, consultants at Mater Dei's Department of Medicine recently called for an immediate solution to bed shortages and overcrowding, deeming it a direct threat to patient safety.

Yet, as things stand, more beds cannot be added at Mater Dei because there is no place. An alternative site has to be found, equipped and staffed, to, at least, handle the so-called social cases.

Any remedial action, including an alternative site or, indeed, utilising vacant space on the Mater Dei footprint, is costly as are more consumables and disposables. Are the necessary funds available? Agents awaiting payments would surely be interested to know.

The situation can only deteriorate further as the population continues to age, live longer and experience more medical problems. There is no use crying over split milk but, rather than engaging in petty squabbles, it would be wiser for the political leaders to drop their vote-catching slogans and pledges on "free" healthcare and, together, for the national good, take the bull by the horns, after taking all stakeholders into their trust.