Shadow Minister Claudette Buttigieg is confusing figures related to health services, the government said in a statement today.
In reply to an opinion piece published by Dr Buttigieg in The Malta Independent, the government said she made an attempt to throw doubts on the number of operations carried out at Mater Dei Hospital in 2015 as well as on the report published by the hospital on its workings.
Dr Buttigieg claimed that the number of operations totalled 52,889 was inflated by the number of MRIs carried out. The government said this is an untruth and shows that the PN shadow minister has no clue of what takes place at the hospital.
In 2015, the number of surgical interventions totalled 52,889, a three per cent rise on 2014 which had been a record year. The number was divided as follows: 45,285 elective and 7,608 emergency surgery. The number excludes MRIs and ultrasounds, the government said.
In 2008, 5,000 MRIs had taken place against the 20,000 carried out last year, while the number of ultrasound exercises nearly doubled from 17,000 in 2008 to 33,000 last year.
Dr Buttigieg’s insinuations are throwing a bad light on the professionals working at the hospital, the government said.
In a reply, the Nationalist Party said that instead of finding out what the problems are and trying to solve them, the newly-appointed Health Minister has attacked the Opposition for speaking about the matter.
For the past weeks the Opposition has been explaining that what the govetnment is reporting about Mater Dei Hospital is not correct, as patients and their relatives can testify.
The Malta Medical Association has also expressed its concern about the situation, throwing doubts on the numbers being dished out by the government.