Last year 142,519 patients entered Mater Dei Hospital's emergency department, Deputy Prime Minister and Health Minister Chris Fearne revealed in Parliament.

Fearne was answering a parliamentary question asked by PN MP Claudette Buttigieg on Tuesday regarding the number of people who have visited the Emergency Department at Mater Dei Hospital between 2013 and 2018, and the minister was also asked how many were Maltese and foreign.

In 2013, 98,600 Maltese and 1,100 Gozitans visited the emergency department. Another 6,342 non-Maltese residents (A) visited the emergency department that year, along with 8,036 foreigners. The following year, 99,754 Maltese and 1,156 Gozitans visited the Emergency Department, with an increase of 8,371 non-Maltese residents and 8,702 were foreigners.

Throughout the years, one notices an increase in the number of foreigners visiting the emergency department; from 8,036 to 12,442 in 2018. In 2015, 103,913 Maltese and 1,211 Gozitans visited the emergency department, and 9,834 non-Maltese residents and 9,985 foreigners went to the emergency department. In 2016, 108,731 Maltese and 1,360 Gozitans visited the emergency department, whilst 11,926 in non-Maltese residents and 10,654 foreigners visited the emergency department.

In 2017, 108,358 Maltese and 1,324 Gozitans attended the emergency department and 13,218 non-Maltese residents and 11,531 foreigners went to the emergency department. In 2018, 106,556 Maltese and 1,275 Gozitans visited the emergency department and 14,515 non-Maltese residents and 12,442 foreigners attended the emergency department.