Are public health services as effective as they are claimed to be?... or as much as we would like them to be? At times, doubts do creep in, especially when one is told about specific cases. Most involve long delays in the delivery of services.

The most striking are delays in the queues waiting to get medical treatment in the wake of some emergency. This doesn't only happen in the central hospitals, but equally in the "regional" clinics that are meant to ease the pressure of too many people going to the hospitals for treatment. It appears that even in the clinics, one needs to wait for half a day or more to get seen to.

Moreover, in clinics where X-rays are taken, the full medical diagnosis can only be done at a central hospital. Where for instance, there is the possibility of a bone fracture, the final result takes more than a week to be communicated over the phone. Then there are appointments to visit specialists at the request of an MD - these can go as far into the future as four months or more.

Delays and long queues of patients waiting to get treatment characterise other European public health systems - as in the UK. But how much can this help as consolation when experiencing delays in the provision of Maltese public health services?

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MORAL AUTHORITY

The ecclesiastical hierarchy expects to be given full official recognition as the ethical guide for us all... and in fact gets it. On state occasions, its leaders are given the go-ahead to pontificate to representatives of political, economic and civil society institutions about the correct norms of conduct, by way of a sense of justice, honesty and solidarity.

Still the question cannot be brushed aside: From where comes this moral authority - assumed and accepted - that the Catholic hierarchy exercises? One would imagine that to be endowed with such an authority, you would by example need to demonstrate that your own conduct is "superior" to what political parties, commercial firms and professional organisations among others, are responsible for.

Not so. In fact, very little distinguishes the conduct of the ecclesiatical corporation from that of other bodies, not least in how it sets about to defend its own members. The latest instance of this was the statement made by the Gozo bishop regarding the case of the multiple rape of an underage girl.

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PUBLIC HOLIDAYS

I'm not sure I'm reading the mood correctly. However it does seem as if with time, the holidays that commemorate "secular" events have been losing their significance. They have become mostly an occasion to relax. Their meaning and the commemoration of the events they stand for get minimal attention, almost as if it's a chore that simply needs to be carried out.  

Elsewhere... as in the US and Russia... things are done differently. People still have retained a popular fervour for their country's most salient historical memories. Their nationalism is evidenced by their attendance for the ceremonies organised during these holidays, as well as by people's solemn behaviour on such occasions.

Here, that kind of attitude has continued to be displayed mostly during religious holidays. The fervour and attendance have been declining in their case as well, but they're still much stronger than for civil holidays. As well, the entertaining street celebrations which are hitched to traditional festas naturally serve to bring out the crowds.