The Malta Labour Party often complains about health services, with the latest statement last Saturday by spokesman Michael Farrugia lamenting that there is a long waiting list in the Radiology Department at St Luke’s Hospital.

In the past, the opposition has regularly pointed out deficiencies in the services offered, blaming the central authorities for not providing the necessary facilities for such services to function properly, and adding that, in the end, it is the patient who suffers the most. The MLP often also gives lists of patients waiting for surgery, saying that many have to wait months for their needs to be seen to.

In this respect, the MLP does well to keep the government on its toes. Health issues should always be at the top of every administration’s agenda, and although Malta can claim health services that are better than in other European countries, there is always something that needs to be addressed.

It is a known fact that St Luke’s Hospital is soon to close down to make way for the new complex at Tal-Qroqq, the Mater Dei Hospital. The hospital at Pieta’ is too small for the exigencies of a growing nation. The one at Tal-Qroqq, which will hopefully be ready and functioning by July 2007, will go a long way to create more space where the general public can receive the treatment needed.

But, of course, it is not the building that makes a hospital. It is the services provided within that make a hospital efficient or otherwise.

There is no doubt that successive administrations have worked hard to improve health services in Malta, and they have all been successful. However, health issues – as is the case in other areas of every-day life such as education and the environment – are not a one-off project, and they therefore need to be constantly monitored and upgraded.

The problem of space will hopefully be a thing of the past when the new hospital is opened. With better surroundings, modern wards and improved facilities, a stay in hospital will be less difficult for the patient and the family involved.

This aspect is being dealt with by the construction of the Mater Dei Hospital, and therefore what needs more attention from the authorities are the services provided. It is useless having a state-of-the-art complex if there is a shortage of medicines or if equipment cannot be used.

In its criticism on such matters, the opposition points fingers at the administration – that is, the government – because ultimately it is the government that must manage the running of the hospital. The MLP is careful not to criticise the staff working in hospital; if anything, it tries to defend them, putting the blame on “the management”.

This is done for political reasons, but in this case the MLP is not far off the mark because, generally speaking, the staff at St Luke’s Hospital work wonders. All of us have been to hospital to visit a relative or a friend, and some of us have also been patients. And all of us can therefore attest to the great dedication of all the categories of staff who, it must be admitted, do not have a pleasant job. It takes a real vocation to work in a hospital, and the great majority of the employees there go a long way towards making a patient’s stay in hospital less stressful.

Hospital employees – from the top consultants to the lowest, but equally important, grades – are right to feel demoralised if they cannot carry out their job properly. The opposition says that such situations are common, while the government says the opposite.

Whatever the case, good health is, on the whole, the most precious thing we all have, and therefore everything possible should be done to literally ease the pain. And therefore health services should be efficient and effective. It is up to the government to see that they are.