Mater Dei Hospital is taking patients away from private hospitals, according to figures given yesterday at an event marking the first anniversary of the new hospital.
Over 67,500 patients have been admitted to Mater Dei in the first 10 months of this year, 4,000 more than were admitted to the state general hospital in the whole of last year.
Social Policy Minister John Dalli said the Maltese were so happy with the new hospital that there has been a shift of patients, with some who would have previously gone to private hospitals opting to be treated at Mater Dei. This was especially so in the maternity department, with the number of births in private clinics going down and those in Malta's main hospital increasing.
A total of 3,870 babies were born at the Tal-Qroqq hospital between November 20 last year and last Tuesday.
The ceremony held yesterday marked a year from the end of migration of services between St Luke's Hospital and Mater Dei. It was attended by some of the first babies born in the new hospital.
While admitting that the hospital was not perfect, Mr Dalli said it had been a bigger success than expected, as shown by the increase in patients.
"The hospital is under constant scrutiny and we want to improve it," he said, adding that it was imperative to make sure that the next generations will also find a good free health service available.
He stressed that standards will continue improving although the hospital tends to make it into the media only when something is lacking.
"The hospital is not perfect; that's impossible to achieve. Mistakes do take place but there is also a lot of good," he stressed.
Fact and figures
• More than 319,000 people were seen at the out patients department between January and last month, an increase of more than 56,000 over the same period last year.
• Between November 2007 and last October 108,235 patients went to the accident and emergency department, 2,752 less than in the same period the previous year.
• A total of 30,837 operations were carried out at Mater Dei hospital between November 2007 and last September; an average of 100 every day. A sixth of these operations - 5,728 - were emergencies while the rest were planned surgical interventions. More than 8,500 were major operations.
• Between January and September this year the number of major operations went up by 300 over the same period last year. The first nine months of this year saw 866 cataract operations, 178 knee replacements, 39 hip replacements, 224 coronary bypass surgeries, 486 hernia repairs, 1,403 angiograms and 477 angioplasties.
• A staggering 67,599 patients were admitted to Mater Dei Hospital between January and October; 4,192 more than were admitted to hospital last year.
• A bed in a general ward costs more than €256 a day while a bed in a high dependency ward costs over €489 daily. A bed in the intensive care unit costs almost €1,000 daily. An MRI scan costs €700 and a CT scan €465.