Updated at 4.26: Adds Health Ministry statement

The Nationalist Party has reiterated its call for a magisterial inquiry to establish the cause of the case of legionella at Mount Carmel Hospital.

Addressing a news conference today, health shadow minister Stephen Spiteri said the government had not only refused to hold an inquiry, it had also tried to keep the case under wraps.

But this inquiry was now much more necessary since another two domestic cases of the disease had cropped up.

The government, Dr Spiteri said, was treating Mount Carmel Hospital patients as second class citizens.

It was unacceptable that this hospital was neglected and ended in a degrading environment.

The carelessness and neglect at the hospital had now become evident and the disastrous situation in the wards was preoccupying  because these were where the patients’ lived.

Moreover, there was now an architects’ report condemning the hospital wards ceilings.

The people expected a government that boasted of an economic surplus to not treat people with mental illness as second class citizens.

Maria Deguara, spokeswoman for persons with a disability, said that the government’s relative expenditure was going down each year.

Not only had the Labour government not built a new hospital as promised but it had also stopped maintenance works at Mount Carmel.

The mental health sector lacked a holistic plan and patients were not getting the high quality service they deserved.

The burden of the neglect and carelessness was being felt by patients and their families, workers and staff, Dr Deguara said.

Health Ministry statement

In a reply, the Health Ministry said that after ignoring the mental health sector for many years, the Nationalist Party was now criticising the works being carried out at the hospital.

Restructuring works at Male Ward 2 were at an advanced stage and a new hall was being designed for users of illicit substances.

Two homes in the community were open for people with mental needs in collaboration with the Richmond Foundation, and others were planned for the future.

While the government was conscious that the hospital was an old building, action for the necessary changes to be carried out was being taken for the first time in years.