In its haste to attack Mater Dei Hospital each and every single day, the Labour Party is losing its credibility.
The PL has been on the warpath to attack hospital services for many weeks, and has taken any opportunity that came its way to try to put the government, especially Minister Joe Cassar, in a bad light. But its latest stunt has backfired – and it has backfired badly.
Its complaints about a lack of pillows at Mater Dei Hospital exposed a party that is desperate to keep the guns blazing against hospital services in a bid to gain popularity. But this time, as has happened on many other occasions when it chose to criticise the hospital, the PL did not get it right. The ammunition it had turned out to be blanks.
No patient is deprived of pillows, and the hospital administration has a store full of new pillows that are ready to be used when the need arises.
In a bid to cover up, the Labour media then went on to say that not even wheelchairs are available. Again, it soon emerged that the Labour Party was wrong a second time.
What’s going to be next – a lack of toilet paper?
The PL knows it has little to say about hospital services, and the pillows and wheelchairs episodes are a clear indication of this. If the big problems at Mater Dei are pillows and wheelchairs, then the PL is indirectly admitting that the rest is exceptionally good.
The problem for the Labour Party is that when it speaks of deprivations, it is shooting itself in the foot. This is because the real deprivations are not what we experience today, when we have an open market and can obtain anything we want, but what used to happen in the 1980s – when people had to go to Sicily to smuggle in decent chocolate, pasta and toothpaste. People under the age of 35 do not remember this, and probably find it hard to believe. But it is true. And the PL is helping bring back those memories.
The PL and the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses have been at the forefront of a long campaign against the hospital. They have frequently tended to say the same thing, with the Opposition following in the footsteps of the union in complaining about Mater Dei. The minister has diplomatically described this approach as a “coincidence”.
It is a real pity that the PL has chosen to make health a political football to attack the government, in the same way that it is a pity the MUMN has taken a militant approach that in some aspects overshadows the confrontational line that used to be taken by the General Workers Union not so long ago.
The hospital opened its doors more than four years ago, so I am sure that everyone, in one way or another, has had some experience of it to speak about – whether it be as a patient, a relative or a friend of a patient.
I am also sure that, were one to be objective, one can only praise the level of service that is provided at the hospital. It is run by human beings, and therefore it is not perfect, but in general terms Mater Dei Hospital should make us all proud. Other developed European countries are jealous of what out general hospital offers – and, let us not forget, the service comes free of charge.
The Labour Party’s attitude is, however, fomenting hatred towards the doctors, nurses and other paramedical staff who work at the hospital. Patients who would normally not complain are taking the cue from Labour’s mind-set to stir up discontent over the slightest issue – a crumb on the floor is made to seem like the Magћtab landfill.
Unfortunately, this is what Labour’s position has led to. Blame is being placed on the shoulders of the dedicated staff when there is no blame at all – either on them or on the hospital administration. Patients and their relatives – especially those who support the Labour Party – are taking advantage of the PL’s barrage to level accusations against the hospital as well.
The PL does not realise that although the target it has in mind is the government and the minister, by default it is mostly attacking the people who work at Mater Dei Hospital. It is they who determine which case should take priority over another (and, rightly so, if someone goes to hospital with a bleeding finger, he or she should not expect to be seen before someone who is rushed in suffering from a heart-attack. I just wonder how many people would turn up at the hospital with a bleeding finger if they had to pay for treatment). They are the ones who carry out countless tests to find out what is wrong and come up with the best treatment possible. They are the ones who take extreme care of the patients for whom they are responsible.
In their great majority, the hospital’s employees, from top to bottom, are dedicated people who go about their work with the utmost dedication, and any attack on the standard of the service they offer – whether it is in the emergency department, in operating theatres or in the wards – hurts them badly.
Marie Louise Coleiro Preca, Labour spokesperson on health, said that the hospital staff is demoralised. Well, if this is the case, I believe that her constant attacks on the service at Mater Dei are what have led to such a situation. When someone is regularly criticised for the way they work, even when this is excellent, he or she is bound to lose motivation.
The Labour Party (and the MUMN) is the cause of such bad feelings, not the other way around.
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