Over 1,000 appointments within the Outpatients Department at St Luke’s Hospital were cancelled and laboratory services were at a standstill for around three hours yesterday after an anonymous caller dialled the emergency number 112 at 9.15am saying that a bomb will explode after one hour.

The hospital authorities informed the police immediately and the Outpatients clinic and pharmacy were evacuated.

The area was cordoned off and the road outside St Luke’s Hospital was closed while the Bomb Disposal Unit within the Armed Forces of Malta were called on site.

A spokesperson for St Luke’s Hospital pointed out that 9am is the busiest time of the day, especially for the Outpatients Department. In fact, hundreds of people, including medical staff, patients, relatives and friends waited for around three hours outside the hospital.

While many expressed concern about the bomb scare, the majority were worried about their appointments, that had been scheduled several months before.

However, St Luke’s Hospital Chief Executive Officer Marian Rizzo told this newspaper that yesterday’s cancelled appointments in the Outpatients Department have already been rescheduled even though not all might have been informed.

The Bomb Disposal Unit searched all floors of St Luke’s Hospital and completed their search at around 11.15am.

In a joint statement, Health Minister Louis Deguara and St Luke’s Hospital authorities strongly condemned the irresponsible act that obstructed the services offered by the Outpatients Department.

“The consequences of these acts affect people’s lives – especially patients who are following treatment at hospital,” they said.

Dr Deguara appealed for everyone’s cooperation for this incident not to be repeated. “This action could have been started off by someone’s selfish action or in order to obstruct the health care services offered at St Luke’s Hospital,” he said.

In a separate statement, Labour spokesperson on Health Michael Farrugia also condemned the bomb scare at St Luke’s Hospital adding that it was an extremely irresponsible action that affected the public health services.

He also condemned hoax telephone calls requesting an ambulance to go out for no reason whatsoever.