Malta recently experienced a shortage of medicines because of the government’s incompetence, Ian Vassallo, the Nationalist Party spokesman for primary health care and mental health care, said.

When a shortage developed towards the end of last year, the government took long to take action, and it was only after the Opposition had repeatedly highlighted the issue that matters started to get moving, Vassallo said.

Yet, it took a whole eight weeks for the situation to improve; this led so many people to complain because they were running out of medicine.

The PN, he said, had asked for the parliamentary health committee to meet to discuss the issue but, even here, such a meeting was delayed and it was only two days before it was due to meet that the government started to fast-track the importation of medicines which were needed, Vassallo said.

In an interview with The Malta Independent on Sunday, Vassallo touched upon several subjects such as the current nurse shortage, primary health care, family doctors and the mental health sector.

During the Covid pandemic, there were times where the PN criticised the government's strategy. The government always resisted and ended up being right. One of these situations was when the PN wanted a lockdown but this was never done. Don't you think that the PN was proven wrong in this situation?

When we take a look at what happened during the Covid-19, it must be said that the way it was tackled was correct, but more could have been done to prevent the number of cases from spiking up.

What the PN had in mind when it was proposing the lockdown was for social contact restrictions to be more widespread as this would have reduced the number of cases. Such a lockdown would have been done over a short period of time, maybe two to three weeks, following other countries’ examples. If done correctly, this could have prevented from Covid patients spikes at Mater Dei Hospital, and which affected other parts of the health sector.

Such a measure could have also prevented having to deal with so many cases on a daily basis and with so many patients needing intensive treatment. It would also have meant that there would have been fewer cancellations of non-urgent interventions. Today we are still suffering the consequences of the pandemic, as people who should have undergone surgery in those months, are now still waiting for a new appointment.

For many years, many families had what is called the family doctor, but since Covid it seems that there is a shift away from this system. Do you think that we are approaching a time where this role is going to be eroded?

The PN is looking into solutions to invest in family doctors because they should serve as a direct point of contact. Family doctors are crucial as they would know the medical history of their patients and thus be able to guide them in the right direction.

The PN had even proposed in its last electoral programme that elderly people, who cannot pay for services offered by family doctors, to be entitled to a refund.

Data which is available in a centralised system accessible to doctors working in the private sector should also be made available to doctors working privately, including family doctors, so as to facilitate access to such information.

You have now been representing the PN as spokesperson for primary care and mental health for almost a year. This sector, as you know, is an important one but we don't hear much criticism about it from the Opposition’s side. Are you happy with how things are going?

The government has been promising what is known as an acute mental health hospital close to Mater Dei. Although this was promised for consecutive years, it is only in the last few months that there has been some kind of progress in this regard – with the government saying that it is trying to find a location for it. The government has prolonged the issue for too long and action should be taken in the short-term.

One other problem in the sector is the loss of human resources. Between 2016 and 2020 there were more than 350 Maltese professionals who left the health sector. This is worrying because if we are not going to take care of human resources, there is going to be a decrease in the quality of service given.

These workers should be better appreciated and their work premises better maintained. We also have structural problems in certain health centres that unfortunately are not benefitting from much investment.

There seems to be a huge investment in the Vincent Moran Regional Health Centre in Paola, while other health care centres are being forgotten.

Health centres, such as the Mosta one, do not have enough resources, given that the Birkirkara one is currently closed. Thus people are going to Mosta and spend 12-14 hours to see a doctor. This should not be the situation there.

Professionals working in the mental health sector are finding it also hard to work at Mount Carmel Hospital because of the environment, the stigma surrounding mental illnesses and their wages.

People who suffer from mental health illnesses are being given care in the same ward as people who, apart from suffering mental illnesses, are also combatting a variety of addictions such as drugs.

The stigma surrounding mental health can be removed by educating the nation from a very young age.

The PN is currently working with several associations that work in the mental health sector and we are trying to create a package of different ways to raise awareness.

It must be remembered that everyone passes through a time where their mental health is not the strongest.

If the PN were to be in government what would be the first thing you'd do for the sector you represent?

The first thing would be to offer a better pay to the people working in the sector.

A general investment in the health care system would also be beneficial, especially when it comes to medicines available.

We need to make sure that from day one we have medicines which are the best possible.

In general, medicines which are better than the ones that are available, but the government is holding back from introducing them in the Government Formulary List.

This could be a problem related to funding or from a lack of agreement with manufacturers.

There are health care professionals who would also like to introduce specific medication to their patients as these medicines could mean that one takes a lesser dose from the one currently taken, which would result in fewer side-effects. This is a win-win situation as this also reduces the possibility that patients would need to receive other treatment.

The government should not wait until the last minute to order medicines that it gives out for free. This would reduce the chances of a shortage as happened late last year, and which spilled into the new year.

In late December, seeing a deteriorating situation, the PN had asked for the parliamentary health committee to meet to discuss the situation.

Unfortunately for eight weeks straight the government was hiding the out of stock medicine list and this also meant that we did not know what was available and what was not. We used to receive many calls and reports about medicines being out of stock.

It was only after the PN brought the issue to the fore that the government took action but for eight weeks there was a shortage from which people suffered.

Regarding the shortage of medicinals, if the PN was in government what would it do to reduce it?

There are two types of medicines, those for which the government can plan ahead and those which, because of a short shelf life, need to be constantly replenished.

For medicines which have a short shelf life, such as antibiotics, the government cannot tell what kind of illnesses are going to hit the country during that time span.

But, in other instances, there are conditions and illnesses for which the government can plan well in advance.

From its records the government knows how many people would need such medication and therefore it can easily plan for six to nine months in advance so as to have the necessary supply .

The country also needs a registry of diabetics, a condition that affects many Maltese, and many of whom do not know that they suffer from it.

There are many people who have not been diagnosed or who might not have come forward for help as soon as they need it. This means that unfortunately they do not start the treatment immediately and come to us professionals when it is too late.

The PN has proposed that there should be national screening so that patients can start being treated immediately and avoid getting treated late.

Unlike previous years it seems that there is no problem of space at Mater Dei Hospital, even at a time when the influenza season is at its peal. This can be a result of using non-designated spaces as wards. Do you think that the problem of overcrowding in the hospital has been solved?

No it was not solved.

Corridors, a basement and a library have been used as wards. For example, in the MIU, which is really and truly an underground corridor, there are around 25 patients who don’t even have the dignity to do their needs in private because they have to use a mobile toilet.

This corridor doesn’t even have a window so patients cannot enjoy the sun.

Additionally relatives of the patients and/or visitors don’t even have a decent space where they can stay near them.

This is unacceptable as even during doctor visits, such patents don’t have any privacy.

If someone loses their life there, others have to stay there and watch. This is unacceptable.

The situation would have been different if the government had not given out the three hospitals (St Luke’s Hospital, Karen Grech Hospital and the Gozo General Hospital) to the private sector.

If the government was to take over responsibility for the hospitals again, it is financially possible for it to keep them running while also maintaining them.

The MUMN always says that Malta has a shortage of nurses and that nurses are suffering from burnout. For its part the government is trying to solve this by bringing in nurses from abroad. If the PN was in government how would it solve this shortage?

To bring nurses from abroad is not the solution; this strategy can only serve as part of a temporary solution in solving the nurse shortage.

When foreign nurses come over and get used to their surroundings, they tend to leave for other European countries because they have nothing tying them down.

The first thing we need to do is invest in the Maltese and offer them better working condition.

Some of the nurses are experiencing burnout because apart from working their normal hours they have to also work overtime. For this not to happen, the government needs to have enough workers so the work can be better distributed.

In the past months many nurses have left because they felt that their job as nurses did not lead to the same satisfaction as before.

Nursing is a vocation. When you hear that nurses have left to go work in the gaming industry or other sectors of the government, it is an even bigger loss.

Foreign nurses are only tied to work as long as their contract lasts, that is one year. Foreign workers who come here to work in the health sector should be tied down for a longer period of time.

The PN has taken a stand against legal amendments proposed by the government to change the law on abortion. If the government persists on its idea, is the PN ready to reach a compromise?

No, the PN believes in life from conception till death and we are completely against abortion.

The latest surveys show that the PN is losing popularity among people more and more. This is happening even though the PN has been in Opposition for 10 years and even after the election of new MPs last year. What can the PN do to get back on its feet?

The PN is working to make its concerns heard in a better way.

In the coming months we are going to make decisions on how we are going to give a stronger voice to our message.