The opposition accused the government for playing musical chairs with funds allocated for the Health Ministry last year and which were postponed to this year’s budget.

Labour spokesperson for social policy Michael Farrugia, spoke about the how the government adopts a partisan approach even in the health sector during the budgetary discussion in parliament last Saturday. The situation at Mater Dei Hospital is precarious with lengthy waiting lists and patients being cared for with lack of privacy, he said.

Dr Farrugia added that Mater Dei Hospital shouldn’t be catering for social cases and yet the problem was carried over from St Luke’s Hospital. Patients suffering from different conditions and which should be cared for in different wards are being accommodated in the same wards. Although the building is state-of-the-art, the way it is being run is not, he added.

“The government’s management by crisis in the health sector shows the government’s incompetence risking the patient’s health,” Dr Farrugia said.

He pointed out that most healthcare employees are suffering from burnout as a result of their working conditions. “It’s not just nurses who are suffering from burn out but also employees in other sectors. It is high time to reconsider what our human resources need,” he said.

Health care workers should have the time allocated to retrain themselves or specialise in particular areas, he said while pointing out that some operating theatres are still not being used because of lack of staff.

Regarding lack of equipment for health professionals to work with, Dr Farrugia described as appalling that some surgeons experienced a shortage of stents, little spring-like equipment which are used in angioplasty operations. It is unacceptable that from 55 different types, only one type is bought in Malta and the national hospitals had stock for 15 days only, he added.

“The government should have found ways to address this problem and bend around financial regulations to make sure the patients are safeguarded. The opposition wouldn’t have criticised the government had the patients been protected,” went on Dr Farrugia.

Speaking about last year’s budget of €1 million on the Karen Grech Rehabilitation centre, Dr Farrugia doubted whether these were really spent there. According to him, not even €0.01c was spent on the centre.

Regarding the regional health centres, he said that these should be the main focus of primary health care. In two years time, the opposition would be applying its policies and not fix problems which left the health centre crippled created by the Nationalist government, he said. €60,000 were dedicated for the improvement of health centres but little can be done with this budget, he continued.

The government surely cannot purchase a new health centre in the Gzira, Sliema and Msida area, like the Minister promised, said Dr Farrugia quoting an interview carried by The Malta Independent on Sunday.

On the Pharmacy of Your Choice scheme, which the opposition agrees with in principles, but disagree with the way it was implemented, Dr Farrugia said he cannot understand how the pharmacies of the patients choice are ending up with certain medicines out of stock leaving patients going from pharmacies to health centres like a yo-yo or purchasing medicines which are 40 per cent more expensive than in other EU countries.