Several surgeries scheduled to take place at Mater Dei Hospital (MDH) had to be postponed due to issues with the hospital’s sterilisation system, Health Minister Jo Etienne Abela said on Wednesday.

In total, 20 out of the 'hundreds' of operations have been postponed since Sunday, Abela said.

“On Sunday, the management of Mater Dei Hospital and the ministry were informed of particulate residue in the water used by the sterilisation machines,” the health minister said.

For surgeries to continue, MDH sent unsterilised instruments to the Gozo General Hospital and two large private hospitals for sterilisation services, he said.

The sterilised instruments were then sent back to Malta’s Mater Dei.

“As Mater Dei’s operation throughput is massive, especially due to the extra lists (surgeries) being run, this has inevitably led to a proportion of the operations across various specialities needing postponement,” the health minister said.

No major or emergency operations were postponed, he added.

“The ministry confirmed that three out of four sterilisation machines are now operational. It is reliably informed that, barring unforeseen circumstances, the service will again be in full swing by tomorrow (Thursday),” he said.

Abela noted that the hospital’s piping system dates back to when Mater Dei was first commissioned. At that time, water filtration mechanisms were missing, he said.

The health minister said filtering systems have now been installed.

On Wednesday morning, Abela apologised to the patients whose operations were cancelled.

Shadow health minister Adrian Delia said Malta’s health system is “overwhelmed by mismanagement” as patients who were meant to have cataract surgery were sent home after undergoing pre-op examinations and preparations.

“Many patients, most of them elderly, who had been waiting for their cataract surgery went to the hospital early in the morning today. They waited, were prepared, had the usual tests done, and were given their wristbands. When the time came for surgery, they were told they would be sent back home,” Delia said.