In the section entitled “About the Foundation for Medical Services”, FMS defines itself as “an umbrella organisation responsible for the management of public hospitals in Malta and for the building of an 825-bed, state of the art teaching hospital”. (Annual Report, page nine).

Six pages later, in the section headed “Mater Dei hospital project - a brief history”, the report claims that the project was originally intended to house a “480-bed, state of the art specialised hospital”. However, the section continues that: “due to a change in government in 1996, the feasibility of the whole project was reconsidered. Eventually it was determined to upgrade the project into an acute general hospital with a capacity ranging from 825 to 1,000 beds”.

After the 1998 election, a third reappraisal took place. According to the same report, “the New Hospital Project was re-evaluated and re-dimensioned to a 650-bed hospital with a possible extension to 825 beds”.

So far, the only real discrepancy is that between the original claim, found on page nine, that Mater Dei will eventually have 825 beds, and the subsequent claim that the plan, as changed in 1998, was for a 650 bed hospital. That is to say, the “possible extension to 825 beds” would now appear to be a reality.

However, matters are further confused on the following two pages. According to the first column of the “Main Features” section (page 16), 45 beds have been allotted to Day Care services, whereas Inpatient Services will have 825 beds in 40 wards. This makes a total of 870 beds... 220 more than stipulated on the previous page, and 35 more than the “possible extension” envisaged in 1998.

Meanwhile, on the facing page (17) the description of “Block A - Administration block” reads as follows: “The four floors above ground comprise 36 inpatient wards. Each ward contains 24 beds on average.” This makes an (admittedly approximate) total of 864 beds.

One page later, we are informed that “Structural works for Blocks A1, A2 and A3 are complete”.Presumably this means that the figure of 36 wards (as opposed to 40 on the previous page) is the correct one. Again, this suggests that when finished, Mater Dei will have around 860 beds... a figure which, ironically, is closer to the 1996 plan for “a capacity ranging from 825 to 1,000 beds” than to the 1998 estimate of “a 650-bed hospital with a possible extension to 825 beds”.