Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi officially opened two new units worth over Lm1 million – a cardiac laboratory and a cardiac intensive care unit (CICU) – yesterday at St James Hospital in Sliema.

St James Group director and CEO Josie Muscat explained that thanks to the new units, people are able to choose between the public and private health sector. “I believe in the great potential of the private sector, and that both state and private can compliment each other. This may mean that both will have to change attitudes and ideas, so that it will work out,” said Dr Muscat.

“The public and private sector should work together to improve the health service and provide new possibilities,” said Dr Gonzi.

St James offers heart screening programmes and the service was completed with the investment in a cardiac catheterisation lab, a cardiac theatre and a coronary intensive care unit. The fifth floor was modified to host the x-ray machine that is needed in the cardiac laboratory. With the help of this machine, small metal tubes, known as “molla” can be placed in the arteries of the heart. Other diagnostic and interventional tests that are performed in the laboratory include angiographies, pacemaker implants and the closure of atrial septal defects known as toqba fil-qalb.

The coronary intensive care is a special ward that deals with patients whose major organs need support. It has special machines called ventilators that can take over the work of the heart, special machines and drugs that support the heart and others that can take over the work of the kidneys.

“Heart disease is the biggest killer, and it is good that people now have a choice between the private and public sector, both of which now are working towards providing them with a better service,” said Health, Elderly and Community Care Minister Louis Deguara.

Dr Gonzi agreed and pointed out that the Maltese should be proud of what both the private and public sector have achieved over the past 10 years. “Just 10 years ago, we had to send people suffering from a heart attack to England, but now we have the most advanced technologies available here.”

Over Lm2 million had been invested in equipment during the last two years, and over Lm3.5 million in wages, Dr Muscat added.

During the past two and a half years, the St James Group has given over Lm100,000 in bonuses to staff. However, Dr Muscat pointed out that a large part of the bonus is eliminated by taxes and said that this is a blow to the employees after working so hard to earn it.

St James Group worked hard to attract foreign patients, he said, especially from Holland and the United Kingdom. It is also cooperating with French surgeons in a scheme whereby French patients are brought over to Malta for plastic surgery under the care of French surgeons. At least 40 per cent of St James Group’s income comes from foreign patients.