Patients who have to go to either Mater Dei or St Luke’s hospital, as well as those who have to attend polyclinics, have to pass through martyrdom, as soon as they get on the minibuses which will take them to their appointments.

The transport starts picking up patients at 7 am and spends two-and-a-half to three hours hovering around the island. The number of patients and relatives that the driver and porter are allotted fill the space allowed on the van and many times the porter and some relatives will have to spend a good part of the trip standing up wobbling from one side to another. The space between the seats is so restricted that only a five-year-old child can sit on them in comfort.

Owing to the time taken for the journey, some patients are missing their appointments and face great problems explaining why they are so late. They sometimes also miss the bus back home and have to stay in the hospital waiting for hours before another is available.

Many of these people are wheelchair-bound and so the burden is much worse. It is only due to the generosity and humour of some drivers and porters – who have my grateful thanks – that many patients do not end up in tears. Patients should inform the bus driver if they cannot keep their appointment early in the morning in order to save time.  

I hope that the Health Minister will make a trip in one of these buses at 7.00 in the morning to verify what I am saying and then look into this matter and stop this unnecessary pain that patients and relatives are suffering. 

Frans Buhagiar