Everyone living in Malta knows about the infamous hospitals' deal, which wasted so much time and squandered resources that could have been better spent on healthcare improvements.

It originated as a deal signed with a company with no prior experience in healthcare - Vitals Global Healthcare, a concession later transferred to Steward Health Care. The agreements the government signed were annulled by the courts, and a criminal investigation was also launched, with many people - including former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, his former chief of staff Keith Schembri, former ministers Konrad Mizzi, Edward Scicluna and Chris Fearne - being charged in court.

The government and Steward Health Care are in arbitration proceedings before the International Chamber of Commerce.

Malta's case against Steward Healthcare, being heard by the International Chamber of Commerce, is expected to be decided by the end of 2025. Malta has to get back the money handed over through the concession. The Opposition says Malta should recoup €400 million. The government disputes that amount, but at this stage, given the colossal mess the government created through the agreement in the first place, it would need to clearly detail to the public where every cent went if €400 million isn't returned.

We, as a country, are only now starting to realise the real impact on the ground that the terrible deal had on our health sector.

The waiting times at hospital are far too long, the lack of space is worrying. The news that a police officer died while in the waiting room at Mater Dei Hospital is shocking and horrifying. An inquiry has been launched, and one now awaits the result to see exactly what went wrong.

There are corridors that have been turned into wards, where patients barely have any privacy - something one would not expect to deal with in a country where the government often boasts about how well we are doing economically.

It is reasonable to assume that if a major refurbishment of St Luke's Hospital was carried out years ago, the situation might be different. Perhaps if money was invested in constructing more wards or another hospital, rather than being thrown away as it was, the situation would not be as it is today. But that was not the case. Instead money was given through a concession, which has been annulled by the courts in a judgement that mentioned fraud, for which we saw minimal in return.

And what about human resources? There's a shortage. Why has the government allowed this to happen? Clearly there was a lack of planning. The government knew full well that the population was skyrocketing, after all the economic model was pretty much based on that, yet as with many other sectors, it didn't plan to mitigate the impacts.

The president of the Medical Association of Malta (MAM), Martin Balzan, himself said that there are not enough "casualty" doctors in the department to cope with the country's increasing demand. He also said that there are shortages of other medical personnel. A medical professional who spoke to this newsroom, and wished to remain anonymous, described the situation at the A&E department as "dire". The A&E department being the place where one goes in an emergency situation, should there for instance be a serious accident.

The medical professional said that the situation at the hospital "has become a matter of putting one emergency over another, which is a very dangerous situation to be in". The professional is right. The medical professional said that things at the Emergency Department, as they stand, are "volatile" due to the large influx of patients being seen to by a handful of overwhelmed doctors "on the edge of their seats. [The doctors] are always wondering, are they missing something? Should they see that patient immediately? That patient seems to be in pain, but that other patient is also in pain. How are we going to prioritise seeing one over the other?"

There clearly aren't enough doctors in this department. The MAM president said that work is ongoing with the government to create both financial and non-financial incentives that would attract more people to the job, and that if no candidates show interest, they will hire foreigners. At this stage this needs to be done, but this situation could have all been avoided had the government planned ahead.

The medical professional also noted that a problem observed is that foreigners are often unaware of alternative public healthcare options, such as health centres or believe that they can cut the queues at the healthcare centre by going straight to Emergency. "This is a multifaceted problem, which I think that the relevant authorities are not tackling in a direct manner."

The government's main plan to ease the stress on the Emergency department is to outsource to the private sector. That will, of course, come with costs. At this stage the government doesn't really have a choice but to outsource, however, outsourcing healthcare is exactly what brought us to the point we are in right now. The government had better ensure there is nothing questionable about the agreement it signs, and the company it signs with. There must be strict oversight.

This is all a result of a lack of planning in advance, a result of poorly managed resources spent on a now defunct hospitals' deal.

The government needs to get its act together and solve the issues within the health sector. Health Minister Jo Etienne Abela had unveiled plans earlier this year to help increase bed stock, but this should have been done years ago.

The impact the hospitals' deal had on the health sector is there for all to see, and one wonders if things will get worse before solutions become effective.