Opposition health spokesman Claudio Grech today appealed to the government to raise the €500,000 allocation for rehabilitation services saying this was extremely low for the country’s needs.

Following a visit to Karin Grech Hospital, he told a news conference he believed that the solution for many of the challenges facing the health sectors would not be found at Mater Dei Hospital

This was one reason why rehabilitation facilities such as those at Karin Grech were of utmost importance.

Unfortunately, the government did not give rehabilitation enough importance in the budget. There were 250 beds at Karin Grech and half of them were used by social cases or by people who were there for the long term as they had nowhere to go, he observed.

Moreover, the extremely low €500,000 allocation given in the last budget was nowhere near enough to furnish the hospital with its needs.

He appealed to the government to increase the budget and said investment could not be focused on just one place. More rehabilitation facilities were needed. When the Labour Party took over the government it had found two plans - one for the conversion of St Philip's Hospital into rehabilitation facilities and another for the building of rehabilitation facilities opposite Mater Dei Hospital.

Mr Grech said there was also the element of community care for which human resources were needed to give specialised care within the community.

Rehabilitation, he said, should not be an afterthought.

Mr Grech noted that although the country was preparing trained people, they were not being engaged byt he government.

He referred to allied healthcare professionals who graduated a few months ago and were not given the opportunity to work - not even on a casual basis.