Palliative care will be one of the services offered by the Oncology Centre to be built on the grounds of Mater Dei Hospital, Parliamentary Secretary for Health Joe Cassar has said. This is the first time that cancer patients will be offered proper palliative care within the public service.

The government is considering creating a 20-bed ward where terminal patients can be offered comfort and psychological support. It may also include two wards for oncology inpatients. The €24 million centre, which is expected to be built on an empty piece of land across the road from the out patients car park, is expected to open in three years' time.

The centre was originally intended to be housed at Zammit Clapp Hospital, but earlier this month Labour leader Joseph Muscat revealed that plans had changed and it would be built at Mater Dei. Defending the change, Dr Cassar said it was normal for previous decisions to be questioned by a new legislature.

"We are carrying out a stocktaking exercise and looking at the pros and cons of all decisions in the context of sustainability while keeping in mind that everything needs to be patient-centred." He said that building the centre as part of Malta's acute hospital would mean cancer patients were no longer segregated.

The government has also made clear its intention to buy a PET Scan, which examines how cancer tissues are functioning.