The government aims to cut the waiting time for MRI and CT scans from more than one year to three months, through an agreement with two private hospitals.

The information emerged after an exchange between opposition MP Claudio Grech and parliamentary secretary for health Chris Fearne. The original question asked how many patients had been treated at Mater Dei and other government hospitals in November and December. Dr Fearne replied that the information was still being compiled. This raised Mr Grech’s ire, who said that he could not understand how the information could not have been collected in three months, as the “simple question” had been first put back in February.  

Dr Fearne replied that it was not a state secret and the question itself was actually complicated. “No drama, as soon as we have compiled the information, we will announce it,” he said.

Mr Grech went on to ask how many patients were waiting for MRI and CT scans. Dr Fearne answered that there were a total of 1,514 people waiting for CT scans and 3,712 waiting for MRIs.

Dr Fearne said it was in discussions to forge an agreement with two hospitals to alleviate the waiting lists. “We aim to first target those who have been waiting for scans for more than a year. Then, we will tackle those who have been on the list for six months, and then those who have been waiting over three months,” he said. Dr Fearne said the Mater Dei departments were working more efficiently, and this resulted in more scans made – almost double the amount that took place on average throughout the last legislature.

He also said that more than one million blood tests had been carried out at Mater Dei last December and this January.