A Maltese cancer patient sent to Rome on Wednesday for radiotherapy, after Malta’s machines developed a fault, on Thursday expressed health concerns as the treatment has not yet been administered.

The treatment, missed for nearly a week now, should be a continuous process, the patient said.

Here in Rome they told me that, since we broke the continuity, they cannot guarantee that it will be effective- Patient

Seven patients were sent to a Rome hospital on Wednesday for urgent radiotherapy. Twenty were due have been flown up by the end of this week.

“It has been a week without treatment. Here in Rome they told me that, since we broke the continuity, they cannot guarantee that it will be effective and the cancer could return,” the patient said from a hotel in the Italian capital.

“It is a pity since my cancer was caught early and I had a chance of a complete cure.”

The patient said doctors had prescribed radiotherapy from Monday to Friday for six-and-a-half weeks. But, due to the faults in the machines at Mater Dei Hospital, the last dose was administered on Friday last week.

Told to travel the next day

On Tuesday, the patient was contacted by the Treatment Abroad Unit and told to travel to Rome the following day.

Patients were asked to provide their bank card details to pay for the accommodation, which would then be reimbursed by the government. They also had to pay for transport from their hotels to the hospital, although this too will be reimbursed, the government has said.

“We are even paying for transport and having to find our means of transportation. On Wednesday, it cost patients €60 to €80 each to get a taxi from the airport to the hotel.”

But the Health Department said this is a standard procedure adopted by the Treatment Abroad Unit when patients are housed in private hotels. However, given the exceptional circumstances, the necessary refunds are already being processed.

It said that the delays being encountered by patients are the standard medical protocols which must take place to ensure safe, effective radiotherapy treatment. The patients who arrived in Rome on Thursday should be starting treatment on Friday. 

Fault in cooling system

Radiotherapy services at Mater Dei had to be suspended following a technical fault in equipment at the oncology centre. Initial investigations suggested the fault in the linear accelerators, the machines that provide radiotherapy treatment, was discovered in the cooling system which regulates the engine powering the machine.

Between 60 and 80 patients undergo radiotherapy sessions every day.

Oncology Department chairperson Nicholas Refalo said patients had been categorised according to how critical the interruption of treatment would be to their overall result.

In all, some 20 cancer patients who receive radiotherapy should have been sent to Rome by the end of this week to continue their treatment.

Meanwhile, Technoline, which maintains the equipment, has said it was not responsible for the damage.