Healthcare planning has, thanks to a disastrous deal that was clearly not done in the public interest, been a mess over recent years.

The deal, with a private company called Vitals Global Healthcare, later taken over by Steward Health Care, was for the running of three hospitals. The whole deal with the government was later annulled by the court in judgements that mentioned fraud and collusion

12 years were wasted, outgoing chief of the Medical Association of Malta Martin Balzan said. He is absolutely right.

12 years without substantial investment in medical infrastructure. Now former top government officials are facing serious court charges over the deal.

The emergency department is where the impact of the failed deal is felt most, Balzan said.

On top of this, a health centre in Paola that could help take some of the outpatients from Mater Dei, last we heard was still stuck in limbo. The government has been outsourcing some patients to private sector hospitals, but Balzan assured that these are not emergency medical cases.

What the health sector needs is a proper plan.

A plan that must be based on the needs of 10-15 years' time, and not only look at today's needs, Balzan said, and he is, of course, right.

This means predicting what the population numbers would look like, while also looking ahead to advancements in medicine, and more.

First and foremost, the space issue needs to be sorted out. Here, we not only refer to the number of patient beds, but also surgical wards for instance.

It is clear that Mater Dei is small for the needs of today. The Health Minister announced recently some additions to the hospital are planned. The project would include a restructuring of the layout of the emergency department, expanding it, as well as the construction of new acute mental health wards.

The minister had also announced that the government is working on a hospital for Gozo, and had previously mentioned the need for a second hospital in Malta.

A clear plan, which aims to tackle the issues of tomorrow, is of the utmost importance in the health sector. The health minister does not have an easy task ahead, and one hopes that he is consulting with the very best of medical planners. There is no more time to waste because building medical infrastructure takes time.

This will, of course, be expensive. Medical infrastructure and equipment does not come cheap. This is why it is so very important that the government do right by the Maltese public and get back the hundreds of millions that were given through the defunct hospitals deal. That money, the public's money taken from all of our taxes, could be put to actual good use. The time has been lost, there is nothing that can be done about that, but the government must fight tooth and nail to get the funds back. There can be no excuse and it is the least that can be done.