From Dr F. Portelli MD, FRCS (Ed)

On 1 May 2007, on the Bondiplus programme, I expressed my concern about the enormous costs incurred by the Maltese taxpayer to build and furnish the Mater Dei Hospital. These costs have now been determined to be in the region of Lm250 million.

I compared the cost of building Mater Dei in Malta with the cost of building a practically identical hospital abroad – the New Royal Infirmary in Edinburgh.

I stated that the new Royal Infirmary Hospital was built and fully furnished with all the necessary medical equipment including 25 operating theatres and the same number of beds as Mater Dei at a cost of Lm125 million.

I can confirm that my statement was correct.

The owner-builders of the New Royal Infirmary are the Morrison Building Consortium and the Royal Bank of Scotland.

The owners of the New Royal Infirmary have leased the hospital to the NHS and are getting a good return on their investment but unfortunately, the presenter of the programme, Lou Bondi, used this to fudge the issue.

The issue is not the cost of leasing – the issue is how much does it cost to build and furnish a hospital to the same standard as Mater Dei. Why should Mater Dei cost double what it would cost for an identical hospital built in the UK?

The Maltese people, who are ultimately footing the bill for Mater Dei, have to judge for themselves.

Frank Portelli

Director

St Philip’s Hospital

Sta Venera