Rewind to the year 2007, the year in which Mater Dei Hospital opened. Back then, the Labour Party had insisted that this new hospital was an extravagance, St Luke’s Hospital would do just as well. A few days later, former Opposition Leader Alfred Sant said that Mater Dei Hospital was state of the art. This clearly shows that the Labour Party have never had a clear strategy when it comes to health care. 

The Health sector is at heart of the PN’s policy. The PN government invests more than €1 million on a daily basis in the health sector. During the last legislature, there were various undertakings to promote and enhance the medical service provided for the Maltese and Gozitan people. A Nationalist government’s top priority is not only to provide a free medical service but an excellent medical service.

Proof that the health sector has greatly expanded is the fact that last year more than 427,000 patients made use of the health centres. Health care professionals, practicing their profession in health centres, made visits to more than 2,500 people who were unable to leave their home, free of charge. This year we are seeing an increase in these numbers which demonstrates the attitude of the Nationalist Party towards people with health problems. Mosta residents, and those who nearby, are benefitting from the opening of an X-Ray unit at the Mosta Health Centre which means that people needing an X-Ray do not have to go to Mater Dei Hospital. 

Surgical procedures are on the increase at Mater Dei Hospital, with an average of 120 operations a day. This resulted in an increase of 11,000 operations compared with the last year of St Luke’s Hospital. Progress in the health sector is apparent from the new surgical operations taking place at Mater Dei Hospital, including cardiac operations and neurosurgery. Moreover, Mater Dei Hospital is to have an oncology centre in order to better tackle cancer. This is also thanks to EU funding which, according to Muscat’s Labour, should have been a mere €1.5 million yearly. In addition, the government is providing Herceptin (which costs hundreds of euros) free of charge to cancer patients. 

The Labour Party keeps quiet when it comes to health care. Instead of giving valuable advice on how to improve the health sector, it complains about and disparages all the initiatives undertaken by the government and hospital staff to improve the health of the Maltese people. 

In recent years, the PN in government initiated the Pharmacy of Your Choice (POYC) scheme, which enables patients entitled to free medication to collect it from their local pharmacy instead of Mater Dei Hospital. Currently, there are 159 pharmacies taking part in this scheme in 57 areas. This is, of course, very beneficial to the patients but probably needs some fine-tuning with respect to the pharmacy owners when it comes to the ratio between the financial compensation and the work involved to provide the service.

Another laudable initiative undertaken by the PN Government was the Breast Screening scheme, designed to prevent breast cancer. So far, 117 cases of breast cancer have been diagnosed and the scheme has been extended to Gozo so that Gozitan women can have the test without coming to Malta.

Thanks to the Nationalist Party in government, the health sector is thriving. Much has been done but we will continue to work hard and do more every day. The Labour Party has never had a reliable health care policy. The Nationalist Party has always been consistent with its health policies – as shown by the above facts and figures – whereas the Labour Party has always been consistent in its inconsistencies.

David Agius is an MP and the

government’s Parliamentary Whip