Hospital waiting lists... A year later and still disastrous

After years neglecting the waiting list problem at the general hospital, the Nationalist government during last election campaign stated that an agreement was reached with all the stakeholders, with an effective management and with new facilities so that the waiting lists will be immediately reduced.

A few weeks after the election, Minister John Dalli made a really significant statement about the waiting lists at Mater Dei. He said that the waiting lists were a disaster. This statement was an important one because the opposition, for years, was criticised by the government for raising this issue in parliament and urging it to act. I must admit that the way John Dalli spoke about this problem convinced me that he was about to tackle this situation.

Unfortunately I was wrong. Realistically eliminating the waiting lists problem in one year was something next to impossible, but definitely I was not expecting that after such a promise and after such a serious declaration from John Dalli the situation would worsen.

During the past nine months the waiting list for Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy, Arthroscopy Knee and cataract surgery at Mater Dei increased by 1,231, that is 14 per cent.

I wonder if the government is working on promise number 120 of its electoral programme. The Gonzi PN’s promise stated that target times had to be established for the patients to wait for their intervention.

Like many other citizens in this country I am really concerned about this situation because it will eventually lead us to a state in which those who have money can get immediate treatment through private hospitals and those who don’t will have to wait. This means that not every patient will have equal access to medical treatment irrespective of his or her income.

I would like to conclude this article by listing a set of realistic proposals which my colleagues Michael Farrugia and Anthony Zammit made in the wake of a statement issued recently by the Ombudsman, Joseph Said Pullicino, who called for fair and transparent management of hospital waiting lists.

• Introduce better hospital management;

• Make greater use of operating theatres;

• Forge a partnership with hospital employees so that they could work after hours for more operations to be performed;

• Raise the number of consultants and specialists, with some of them tasked to operate on those patients on the ‘centralised waiting list’;

• Sub-contract part of the waiting lists to private hospitals, since Mater Dei Hospital has 100 fewer beds than St Luke’s;

• Provide an assurance to all those on waiting lists that their operation would be performed within a defined period;

• Carry out a medical audit and ensure that all patients have a proper follow-up service.