Nationalist Party leader Alex Borg on Thursday outlined a "sweeping healthcare reform programme" centred on new patient‑focused systems and a restructuring of how care is delivered across Malta and Gozo.
At a press conference held at the party headquarters, Borg said the PN's vision aims to bring health services closer to people's homes, ease the burden on Mater Dei, and shift the national approach towards prevention, organisation and dignity.
Borg placed three new proposals at the heart of the reform plan. He announced the introduction of care navigators who would be assigned to every patient to coordinate appointments, referrals and follow‑ups, ensuring individuals are never left uncertain about their treatment timeline. He explained that this system would give patients the clarity, direction and respect they deserve throughout their care journey.
He then detailed the development of a just‑in‑time command centre to manage appointment flow in real time across the entire health service, with the aim of addressing long waiting lists and ensuring that consultations, tests and treatments occur on time. A Digital Front Door would complement these reforms by establishing a unified digital record system linking all health services, replacing outdated paperwork, reducing errors and improving coordination between facilities.
Mental health reform was also a key part of Borg's message. When asked by The Malta Independent about how they would go along with providing the existing patients with adequate care throughout the new construction of a new mental hospital, he insisted that Mount Carmel Hospital can no longer serve as Malta's main psychiatric institution, describing its infrastructure and stigma as unacceptable.
He said the PN will phase out the hospital and replace it with modern psychiatric services integrated into new hospitals until the community‑based mental health hubs are finished being constructed and will make sure they are designed to offer dignity, accessibility and proper support.
When asked about the location of the proposed Northern Hospital, Borg said the site will be announced at the appropriate time but mentioned that the cost of it will be of €160 million, and will hold 250 beds. He said that the project will be part of a wider hospital network that includes a new 400‑bed Gozo hospital in which the cost will be €350 million, an expanded Paola hub at a cost of €80 million euros and will occupy 250 beds and an extension at Mater Dei of a cost of €120 million. The PN expects these facilities to be completed within five years, forming a decentralised system intended to ease overcrowding and improve access to timely care.
Borg underscored that healthcare reform must extend to the people who work in the system. He promised to negotiate a new financial package for all health workers within his first 100 days in office, saying applause for frontliners must now be matched with practical improvements in their working conditions. Students in health‑related studies would see their stipends raised to the equivalent of the minimum wage, along with a €1,000 top‑up each month. To address the ongoing loss of local specialists to opportunities abroad, returning medical professionals would be offered a five‑year tax break.
The PN leader framed the entire programme as a transition towards a preventive, organised and truly patient‑centred health service. He emphasised that only a modern, coordinated system can provide the dignity, clarity and timely care that patients in Malta and Gozo deserve.