Our public healthcare system was once known for focusing solely on relieving the suffering of patients and the value of maintaining the health of our community. Sadly, nowadays, it is more associated with squandering taxpayers’ money with gross mismanagement and corruption.
Many had hoped the failed privatisation of three public hospitals was enough for public healthcare policymakers to learn lessons on how not to waste taxpayers’ money. This is especially relevant when the pressures on the system are stretching human and physical resources to breaking point.
The Medical Association of Malta slammed the government for wasting €10.6 million in planning a new outpatients block and acute psychiatric facility at Mater Dei Hospital before scrapping the idea. The government will now spend another €10 million preparing an alternative plan.
The Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses says it was never consulted and never agreed with the plans for the new outpatient building. The MUMN wants the outpatient services to be shifted to St Luke’s Hospital after it is refurbished.
In a statement, the health ministry argues that the government was not controlling St Luke’s Hospital when the outpatients’ services were being planned. It criticised MAM for being unqualified to act as an “arbiter of strategic management or infrastructural projects”.
With their condescending attitude, the health authorities are either utterly insensitive to the hardships their mismanagement imposes on the people and the healthcare professionals, or delusional about their perceived competence to save the health system from more deteriorating standards of care.
The problems surrounding the Paola Healthcare Hub have meant that thousands of people promised better healthcare services will now have to wait longer to access medical services conveniently.
The outpatient services at Mater Dei Hospital, used by almost 1,000 patients daily, will continue to pressure the already distressed general hospital. With no clear plans on how population growth will be addressed, Mater Dei standards of services will continue to deteriorate.
This will mean longer waiting lists for surgery and outpatient appointments, and failure to implement a more effective system to promote preventive healthcare.
Mental healthcare services are the Cinderella of the public healthcare system. The Mount Carmel Mental Health Hospital has been deprived of critical investment for decades.
There has been no shortage of promises to remedy this situation, promises that were never realised. According to MAM, Health Minister Jo-Etienne Abela now wants to create five acute psychiatry wards on top of the Emergency Department at Mater Dei.
The healthcare policymakers who pride themselves on being experts in “strategic management and infrastructure projects” must no longer treat patients with arrogance. They must ensure that every euro spent produces results translated into better medical services for the community.
The government must use all the best health resources we have in the country for the benefit of society and has no choice but to exploit public-private partnerships.
It was positive to see health ministry issuig an urgent call to the private sector to outsource emergency care amid pressure on the service at Mater Dei.
Writing in Times of Malta recently, the Saint James Hospital CEO said that rather than duplicating work and resources, private healthcare should be leveraged as a complementary force to the public system.
“By involving private facilities in the national healthcare management ecosystem, the government would gain clearer financial visibility, enabling better planning and allocation of funding requirements,” Jean Claude Muscat said.
We simply cannot continue seeing project mismanagement and persistent confusion in strategic planning that puts the health and well-being of the community at risk. It is time for a complete rethink.