Health Minister Godfrey Farrugia this afternoon dismissed claims that patients’ safety at Mater Dei Hospital was compromised because of overcrowding.

Speaking during a visit to the National Screening Centre in Valletta, Dr Farrugia acknowledged that there was overcrowding at the hospital and said that 17 non-elective operations had to be postponed because of this since the weekend.

The minister said the plan was to increase the number of beds at the hospital by 20 per cent by 2015. He noted that although an additional 50 beds were put in this year, this was nowhere near enough. Mater Dei, he said, had been a small hospital from the very beginning.

On colorectal screening, Dr Farrugia said that 7,700 invites had been sent and a 44 per cent response was received. A total of 12 cases of colorectal cancer were found and 110 cases were noted as suspicious and sent for further testing.