There are no solutions or new ideas in the Labour Party’s plan for the health sector, Health Minister Louis Deguara said yesterday.
Dr Deguara rebutted Labour’s proposals: “This report has been in the making for a number of years and while it lists several
problems and challenges it doesn’t come up with one single valid solution,” said Dr Deguara.
Several statistics mentioned in the Labour report are not quoted correctly, he pointed out.
Although the report states the rate of cancer has increased, it is due to Malta’s aging population and not because of the state of the health service.
Apart from that, Malta’s rate of cancer is one of the lowest in Europe, Dr Deguara added.
Although a number of issues such as overcrowding and the long waiting lists are mentioned in the document, there are no valid solutions to these problems, he added.
In the report, Malta is listed as one of the countries with the highest rate of overcrowding in Europe.
“According to Eurostat, Malta had 921 beds per 100,000 in 1928, which decreased to 563 in 1998 and increased to 687 in 2002, said Dr Deguara.
There are other countries with a lower number of beds per 100,000 but the opposition do not take these facts into consideration, he added.
“One must keep in mind that 80 per cent of operations are day surgery and the rate of overcrowding increases in winter due to colds and the flu,” said Dr Deguara.
Even countries with a larger budget allocated to the health sector, for instance the UK, have a problem of extensive waiting lists.
“It is very easy for Labour to say that they will decrease the waiting lists by 15 per cent when they are in government without considering the implications of their actions,” said Dr Deguara.
He pointed out that the government is already tackling a number of issues mentioned in the report, added Dr Deguara.
“This report loses credibility because the opposition is not even aware that the government is working on certain problems.”
One example is Labour’s idea to send all oncology cases to Sir Paul Boffa Hospital. “The government has already shifted all oncology cases to Zammit Clapp hospital,” said Dr Deguara.
The Labour plan also calls for the setting up of the National Commission for Mental Health Reform. Dr Deguara pointed out that this commission is up and running and a member of the opposition was on the board.