Prime Minister Joseph Muscat this afternoon presided over the signing of an agreement between the government and Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry in Zebbug, Gozo.

The agreement will see the opening of a campus hosting a medical and dental school run by Queen Mary University of London.

Initially, the announcement that an agreement had been reached between the two sides had been made in February 2014 by then Health Minister Godfrey Farrugia during a public consultation meeting held at Mater Dei Hospital.

The first 60 students are expected to enter the school in September 2016.

Part of the Queen Mary University of London, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry is expected to welcome 300 students over a five-year period.

Shortly after the signing, Minister of Health Konrad Mizzi gave an outline of the government’s vision in the health sector.

He said that a request for proposals will be issued in 10 days's time for the private sector to invest two hundred million euros in the Gozo General Hospital and St Luke’s.

“Healthcare will remain free but the quality of health care will improve drastically,” he said.

Gozo hospital will be fully-fledged one

The minister continued: “The Gozo hospital’s proposed new wing will offer 250 acute beds and will also host a geriatric and rehabilitation centre. The old part – which will be renovated - will have 200 beds.

“Gozitans will not have to go to Malta to seek treatment since the Gozo Hospital will be converted into a fully-fledged hospital. An outpatients’ facility will also be developed and the intensive care unit enhanced.

“In the vicinity of the hospital, a health hub will be opened while the Rabat health centre will remain.

“As for Malta, Karin Grech hospital will be redeveloped and used to care for the elderly while a rehabilitation hospital will form part of St Luke’s with no less than 80 beds,” Dr Mizzi highlighted.

250 additional beds at St Luke’s will also be created tied to medical tourism, he said, while emphasising that the government wants to enhance this sector.

1,200 new jobs to be created

Dr Mizzi said that a result of such an investment, 1,200 new jobs will be created. Workers will be retained and the collective agreement respected, the minister emphasised.

He said that the project will take place over a period of four years.

Parliamentary Secretary Chris Fearne said that today’s announcement is a dream come true “for us medical professionals”.

The situation we found when elected to office, he said, was that we have excellent medical professionals but primary care was not developed enough.

He said that the services at Mater Dei are good but the hospital is not big enough to deal with the influx of patients, which led to patients in corridors.

In the weeks to come, he said, the migration of patients from Boffa to the new Oncology centre at Mater Dei will come to an end.

He said that the Gozo hospital will be on par with Mater Dei in terms of quality.

He said that the EU average number of acute beds per 100,000 population is 384 while Malta’s was 256 in 2012.

He said that there’s a deficit of 500 beds. To deal with this deficit, he said that the building of new wards at MDH will lead to an additional 300 beds, apart from the fact that an additional 27 beds were created at Mater Dei recently. He said Sir Anthony Mamo oncology centre will host 92 beds and 21 couches.

Mr Fearne said St Luke’s will be revived due to the proposed developments.

Prof Anthony Morris from Barts said that the school will be delivering the same curriculum as the one in the UK

He said that the medical school in Gozo will be the first school Barts has outside the UK.

The medical school will form part of the Gozo hospital project.

When asked by this newsroom if the government consulted with all stakeholders, Dr Fearne said that the government has met up with medical professionals and unions but other meetings are scheduled with the UHM, among others. He said that medical students will spend their medical years training at St Luke’s, the Gozo hospital and students specialising in certain areas will also spend their time training at Mater Dei also.

Opposition agrees with investment, awaits more information

Meanwhile, the Opposition said that while in principle it agrees with the investment, it awaits further information on the agreement reached by the government.

The opposition noted that a number of unions were not properly informed or consulted about the agreement.

 Regarding Gozo’s general Hospital and St Luke’s, the opposition also awaits further information, in particular about which entities will be managing the hospital.