As from 21 June Marsaxlokk residents can start receiving care from the new community clinic in Marsaxlokk.
Health Minister Chris Fearne and Parliamentary Secretary Alex Muscat inaugurated the new clinic brought about by an investment from the MDSF.
“The political strategy of this government is to give as much health services as possible close to the community at the highest level of health care,” Fearne said.
Fearne also said that this new clinic mimics a health centre due to the large number of services provided and also said that thanks to this fund “we are now in a better position to provide better health services in the community where people feel safer and better”
The site where the clinic is located was formerly a property of the University of Malta. After an agreement with the health ministry, the property was renovated for use as a clinic and to provide a community service.
Fearne said that “this is one of the loops in the chain of health services we are revamping and introducing. Our aim is to have a clinic in every city and village in Gozo and Malta as part of the national health service which we are obliged to provide”.
Since the 2017 election, Malta has opened or renovated various clinics. These include Attard, Pieta, Gudja, Ghaxaq, Sliema, Fgura, Zabbar, Mellieha, Zejtun, Zebbug, Xewkija and Zurrieq.
In the coming weeks Fearne said that a new clinic will be inaugurated in Santa Lucia and Kalkara. For the first time, Valletta residents will also benefit from having their own clinic.
The new Marsaxlokk clinic can provide a number of services which include afamily doctor, nurse clinic, podiatry services, physiotherapy, speech and language pathology, blood test services, dietician a GU clinic and also a mental health clinic.
“The mental health clinic is part of a national provide mental health care at a community level and refrain as much as possible from using big hospitals for mental health care,” Fearne said.
The GU clinic will not be operational from 21 June but will start giving services in the coming weeks.
Muscat said that “this project is exactly what the national fund for social development was created for […] in total there is a 10€ million budget for projects like these and it is important that the Maltese communities benefit as much as possible”
Muscat said that “when we started to save money for these projects, we started by attracting foreign investment and putting 70% of the invested money aside in order to use it to help the communities receive the best level of health care they deserve at the commodity of their community”