Borg pledges to complete PN hospitals plan within five years

The Nationalist Party’s "hospitals network plan" would cost some €600 million, Alex Borg said on Thursday. 

The Opposition Leader was speaking at a press conference to explain the finer details of the health-related proposals set out by the PN on Tuesday. 

Central to the Nationalist plan is building a new hospital in the north of Malta, expanding the Paola Health Hub in the south into a fully-fledged hospital and constructing a new hospital in Gozo. 

Borg said a PN government would also place more emphasis on preventative care with a “national health village”, which would offer 80 beds and cost €20 million.

A Nationalist government would invest €350 million in its proposed Gozo Hospital, which would have 400 beds, and another €160 million building a new hospital in northern Malta equipped with 250 beds. 

A further €80 million would be invested to expand the Paola Hub.

Borg said a PN government would complete all of the projects by the end of its legislature, in five years. 

Asked what services the new hospitals would provide, electoral candidate Ray Gatt said that both the northern and southern facilities would be “fully-fledged hospitals” equipped with emergency departments, wards and operating theatres. 

“It’s important that these hospitals have their own emergency department, so that a patient is close to care after an accident,” PN candidate and surgeon Ray Gatt said.

Under the PN proposals, only those needing intensive or specialised treatment would need to be transferred to Mater Dei Hospital.

Psychiatric care and smartwatches

Borg said his government would equip hospitals with psychiatric wards and gradually shut down Mount Carmel Hospital and move many services to communities.

Those unable to live within the community would be admitted to the new hospital psychiatric wards, however.

The Opposition Leader also pledged to begin talks to improve health workers' financial package within his government’s first 100 days, and that the PN would create a new "care navigator" role within the health system.

“This person will be in charge of coordinating referrals, tests, medicines they need to take, appointments and so on”, he said of the proposed new role. 

Borg also pledged to increase efficiency in the use of hospital premises and resources via a “just in time command centre”, which would aim to maintain efficiency and increase digitalisation by centralising data across all hospitals. 

A PN government would also create a 'Fit for Life' policy aimed at 15–25-year-olds, which would include a €300 grant to buy a smart watch. The activity registered on the watch could be redeemed for vouchers, Borg said. 

Gatt, meanwhile, pointed to "long" waiting lists for operations as well as for being admitted to rehabilitation care.

Karin Grech 'no longer fit for purpose'

He said that Malta's rehabilitation hospital, Karin Grech Hospital, is no longer fit for purpose.

“The plan is to have a rehab centre appropriate for nowadays, not somewhere in the middle of an urban site like today in Gwardamangia, our plan is for this to be within the National Health Village”. 

“Karin Grech is not a good place to welcome patients,” he said. 

While Karin Grech currently has a capacity of 250 beds, the PN’s National Health Village would have 60 beds. 

Asked if this was too little, Gatt said: “Don’t forget that part of the rehabilitation is happening in St Vincent De Paule. There are specific wards for geriatric rehabilitation. There is also enough space in the National Health Village to increase the bed count if needed”.

The Party's health spokesperson, Stephen Spiteri, talked about the need for all cancer medication to be on the government formulary. 

He said that too often, cancer patients were told by doctors that while some drugs were available for free, drugs that recorded better results were not. 

"People should not be begging the community chest fund for the best treatment possible," he said.