The government’s policy is to provide free health care to those who needed it, the Health Ministry said.

It said in a statement that the government was strengthening health services, so much so, that 39,000 operations were carried out last year - 6,000 more than had been carried out at St Luke’s Hospital in its last year.

The opposition had been against the building of Mater Dei Hospital so against this improvement which was leading to more people getting the care and operations they required.

The ministry insisted that the health reform document had to serve as the basis for consultation so it would be changed where necessary for the best care to always be provided.

As with all other consultation documents, it was not final but it seemed the opposition did not know what consultation meant.