Over these last few years our healthcare system has taken strong strides forward. Patients have lived this, our healthcare workers can attest to this. Even the European Commission has recognised this.
To quote the Commission’s Country Report issued this February: “The recent reforms implemented in Malta are contributing to an increasing effectiveness of the healthcare system. Recent policy actions such as the Health Act, the Mental Health Act, the completion of the Health Systems Performance Assessment exercise, the National Health Systems Strategy, result in the strengthening of the national health system.”
Compare this with the Country Report issued in May 2013: “Supply of cost-effective primary care services is limited… Data collection and monitoring of system performance (health needs, outputs and quality of outputs) is also very limited. These factors point to bottlenecks in the provision of primary care services and add to higher waiting times for hospital care.”
This was our challenge. A state-of-the-art hospital but a third-world supporting system. In March 2013 we were close to 300 out-of-stock medicines in community pharmacies and Mater Dei. Waiting lists were never ending and growing, while the lack of bed space in our hospitals meant that 8,200 patients in 2012 spent at least one night receiving their treatment in hospital corridors.
While Mater Dei was a showcase, other facilities, such as the Gozo General Hospital, were crumbling.
The establishment continued saying public healthcare was free while pushing people into expensive private treatment. This was privatisation by stealth implemented by previous administrations.
We acted fast to stop this. In four years we increased spending by 60 per cent to €520 million. We added 450 professionals. We could do this because we boosted economic growth to three times the EU’s, raising additional revenue to finance our investments.
Last year we spent €92 million on medicines, up by 44 per cent on 2012. On the pharmacy-of- your-choice scheme we spent €11 million, nearly four times as much as in 2012. From 160 POYC out-of-stock medicines, most weeks we now have no unavailable medicines.
By purchasing more equipment and employing more professionals, we slashed waiting lists. Ninety per cent of patients in our Accident and Emergency Department are served within less than four hours, instead of the average 13 hours in 2013.
In 2012 Mater Dei performed 8,000 MRI scans. Last year we did 21,000. Waiting lists for MRIs have fallen from two years to two months. Waiting lists for cataracts are now three months, down from three years. Hip replacements now wait an average of six months, while before these took eight years. How could anyone claim that hip replacements were a free public service when patients had to wait eight years to get one?
We now conduct 64,000 operations in our hospitals, up by a third on 2012. We have restored dignity to our patients, with no one treated in corridors.
We can look to the future. We developed partnerships with the private sector to make Malta a medical hub. We have a proud history, with the Sacra Infermeria being the foremost hospital in Europe at the time of the Knights and under the British we were the nurse of the Mediterranean.
There is no reason why we cannot regain our past standing. This is why we attracted to Malta one of the foremost UK medical schools, Barts, and why we brought Vitals to give a new lease of life to previously abandoned hospitals.
This investment will revitalise Gozo. In September the first students will commence their experience here, unless Simon Busuttil stops this, denying Gozitans the first economic break they have had in years. He will also demolish our chances to become a medical hub, reducing opportunities for our medical profession immeasurably.
With Joseph Muscat, the future of our healthcare is bright. We will improve it and keep it free.
Our plans include substantial investment. We will build three new primary care centres. We will build a new outpatients department to reduce waiting times for appointments even further.
We will build a Mother and Child hospital. We will add 230 beds in Mater Dei, and make it more accessible by building a five-storey underground car park. We will bring mental health patients into a new hospital near Mater Dei.
After tackling out-of-stock medicines we can now provide more free medicines. These will include treatments for cancer, diabetes, circulatory and cardiac issues, prostate and osteoporosis medications and vaccination against meningitis. We will extend our project to bring medicines to the elderly in their own home. And we will modernise our health system to make it smarter.
From an era where doctors consult paper files, we will move to a system of remote patient and disease management where vital signs will be measured within the privacy of a patient’s home and family doctors will be able to monitor constantly health conditions.
Healthcare in Malta has always been a priority. Since 2013 we have steadily turned good to great. In this campaign, we have presented our plan to continue on this path and turn our nation into a medical hub for the Mediterranean, creating a new industry that can employ thousands of professionals. We are looking forward, after June 3, to once again turn our plan into a better reality for all.
Chris Fearne is the Minister for Health