I have come to the conclusion that it is easier to find a needle in a well than to find a bed allocated to a patient who is about to have an operation in Mater Dei hospital.

What I foresee in the future is the Health Minister not just demanding charging for certain medicines, which up till now are being given free of charge at the same hospital, but for the patient to actually take his own bed in a hospital ward. Can somebody explain to me why a patient who has to undergo an operation, is asked to be at the ward at 8am when a bed is only available to him at 3pm or later, which leaves the patient with no option but to sit and curse the same hospital in the waiting room?

I ask this in the name of all those patients who do not just have the thought of a major operation to contend with, but also the frustration of sitting in a waiting room thinking about the impending doom and gloom that has fallen on them.

What is the sense of building a lustrous hospital when the beds are scarcer than a shower of rain in the hot days of August?

Though I have no doubt in the ability and notable service the whole staff of Mater Dei give to patients, I find that the administration makes more emphasis about the cleanliness of the hospital than the actual comfort of the patient.

I boldly ask the minister where his common sense is, being witness to patients being in hospital at the appointed time while most of them with back, knee or other problems have to cope with their discomfort sitting in a waiting room.

Surely anyone can see that it is better for the patient to arrive in hospital with his bed all ready and waiting.

A state of the art hospital? A very debatable subject, I am afraid!

Valerie Borg

Valletta