Health Minister Godfrey Farrugia has not excluded that Mater Dei Hospital may be run by “foreigners” in the future, as proposed by John Dalli in his report, but to the minister the word foreign also means a non-government organisation.

He did not rule out that the Foundation for Medical Services (FMS), also proposed by John Dalli, could be roped in.

Speaking to this newspaper, while once again stating that the John Dalli report on Mater Dei’s operations and management is solely Mr Dalli’s and not the ministry’s, Dr Farrugia did not rule out that the Mr Dalli’s advice could be taken up by the ministry, that the role of FMS will be redefined from one that is quasi a facilities and project management arm to that of a group holding company.

In his report, Mr Dalli said that the FMS could provide a hospital oversight function operating under the supervision of the Ministry of Health in its role as the group holding company of the hospital, meaning that the hospital services arm of the health sector is designed to replicate a private sector model where common and shared services are lodged in a ‘group’s holding company’ with the vertical service providers.

However, Mr Dalli is also insisting that Malta lacks the necessary expertise in hospital management, and that “foreign expertise” should run the hospital until local candidates gain the necessary knowhow and experience.

Dr Farrugia said that the Dalli report is a “crystallised” analysis conducted in a subjective manner by Mr Dalli, but pointed out that the ministry was looking into other reports, namely the Johns Hopkins report “which was totally ignored by a Nationalist-led administration, unlike Labour in government which has evaluated it”.

He highlighted that the work on the clinical management aspect is in progress and was already bearing fruit,  a heavy decrease in beds occupied by long-term care patients witnessed, whose number stood at 6,000 prior to the March general election and now was down to 3,700, the statistics seen by this newspaper. He said this proved that the results of the clinical aspect’s findings “are taking us towards implementing the best practices possible”.

On non-clinical management, Dr Farrugia also pointed out that he set up a committee comprising five individuals who are evaluating the “governance side” of things where stakeholders are also being roped in, including the unions MUMN, GWU, UHM and MAM, which were contributing to helping restructure the hospital.

He said that the Mr Dalli report deals with Mater Dei only and does not cover the rest of the health sector and this committee, along with the stakeholders mentioned earlier, would be conducting a detailed and wider analysis of the health system, looking at procurement, finances, human resources, inventories, to help strengthen the hospital which will eventually lead to “corporate governance”.

He said that Mater Dei will one day become the hospital everyone would like to have, adding that he is determined to solve the issue of Mater Dei’s overcrowding.

 

Maximising space: Conducting two interventions in one ward on different days

Regarding the chemotherapy treatment sessions which started to be provided to Gozitan patients on Wednesday, meaning that Gozitan patients will not face the inconvenience of having to travel to Malta to receive such treatment, the minister said that six patients benefited from the treatment on that day.

Explaining the government’s point of departure related to chemo in Gozo, he said that the government took off from a pledge both parties made prior to the general election, to give such a service to Gozitan cancer patients.

“When we were elected to govern we looked at the budget drafted by a PN-led government, and saw that the funds allocated to this sector was a small amount, much less than the funds which were meant to be allocated to the project,” the minister said.

He explained that the funds which were meant to be allocated to the project, structured by a PN administration, was meant to be €600,000, and this excluded refurbishment of the ward and the purchase of equipment. But a much smaller amount was found in the budget drafted by a PN administration.

“After having conducted a number of brainstorming sessions, the ministry emerged with the idea that the chemotherapy ward is also used to conduct operations on Maltese patients, when it is not being used for chemo, as one of a series of strategies to cut down on the waiting lists at Mater Dei,” Dr Farrugia said.

Chemotherapy sessions are held once a week in Gozo and therefore the ward is unoccupied for the rest of the week and this is why, the minister explained, it will be utilised for surgeries as well. Currently, 11 Gozitan patients are undergoing chemo sessions.

“This,” he said, “will not only maximise the space of a ward which will be used for two different interventions but human resources will also be used to the full”.

The minister said that doctors and nurses were trained once again on how to administer chemo to patients as the time since they were last trained had elapsed as the chemo sessions failed to be kick-started by the previous administration.