Private hospital owners in Malta had mixed reactions to the Labour Party’s electoral proposal to reduce the queues for operations at Mater Dei Hospital by reaching an agreement with private hospitals to have surgeries done there instead of Mater Dei.
The Labour Party’s target as stated in its electoral manifesto, which was approved the party’s extraordinary general conference last Thursday week, is to reduce waiting lists for surgeries by 15% each year.
Dr Frank Portelli, Director and Chief Executive Officer, St Philips Hospital, was rather cautious about the Labour Party’s proposal. He said: “An Electoral manifesto is a solemn declaration or promise by political party to the people – it is easily made and like most promises easily broken.
“There have been no serious agreements with Private Hospitals even though this electoral promise was made by the PN 10 years ago. So I have learnt not to take any electoral promises made too seriously – whichever party they come from!
“Had the Labour Party really meant it – they could have signed a pre election concordat with the Private Hospitals,” the former Nationalist Party President told MaltaToday.
On the other hand, Dr Josie Muscat, Chairman, Saint James Hospital Group, welcomed the Labour Party proposal. “St. James Hospital group has for long maintained that opportunities exist for co-operation with the public sector that would translate in benefits to both patients and tax payer.
“Unfortunately our claims have consistently fallen on deaf ears and therefore it seems that the government is content to do things on its own, unnecessarily spending precious public money in the process,” he told MaltaToday.
Asked whether they had been consulted by the Labour Party on the matter or not, Portelli said: “No, I have not been consulted formally in any way on this matter.
“And as I stated earlier we could easily have been involved and only too happy to share our ideas.
“However ideas are not enough – I was deeply involved with the PN electoral manifesto when we promised to work closely together for the benefit of patients.
“Unfortunately I did not have the power to implement it – and all my pleas went unheeded. I have no reason to suppose that the Labour Party will be MaltaToday.
Likewise, Muscat said that they had not been consulted by the Labour Party about this proposal.
“I have already stated that as private health providers, we have never been consulted by any party on health matters and no party has ever raised a finger to protest against the heavy tax burden imposed upon us which forced us to raise prices and lose patients to the ‘free’ public health sector,” he told MaltaToday.
Asked whether he was willing to reach an agreement with the Government on the matter or not, Portelli told MaltaToday: “Most of us who are seriously involved in providing health care to patients have realized for a long time that we must stop perpetuating the myth that the State - the NHS - is able to provide for all our medical and social demands.
“The Government has spent some €600 million in the infrastructure of the Mater Dei Hospital – and now we are told that we do not have enough nurses nor are we producing enough doctors to run this hospital.
“What is the point of having 50 operating theatres – if you can only operate in half of them because you lack doctors and nurses?” he asked.
“We spent too much money on the infrastructure but not enough in human resources such as doctors, nurses and paramedics. Have they gone mad? No one is accountable – no one resigns!” Portelli insisted.
“Forming a strategic partnership with the private sector – finding areas of collaboration between the NHS and the private sector – is one solution,” he said.
According to Portelli, currently there are more than 13,000 individuals waiting for some kind of operation or investigation like scans and ultrasound.
Likewise, Muscat said that he would be willing to reach an agreement with the government about the matter. “As a hospital owner, I would never refuse to negotiate with the government and I have no doubt that this would prove to be to the advantage of both.
“We have in the past given various suggestions but unfortunately these have never been discussed. On the contrary, we get the feeling, that the people who run the health department are jealous of the private sector.
“It might interest you to know that during the bird flu epidemic, a public health official, when asked what private hospitals should do in such an eventuality, he replied that they might as well close down.
“Does anyone give a damn for the several hundred employees working in the private health industry?” Muscat asked.
Asked about how many surgeries your hospital would be able to take annually under such an agreement and at what cost, Portelli said: “With an agreement signed between all of the private sector we could remove the waiting lists within 3 years – at about 70% of what it costs the Government –
– needless to say with better overall results since we only utilize Consultants or Fully Accredited Specialists in private hospitals.”
“I must confess that many doctors are seriously worried by the aggressive discharge policy being implemented at the Mater Dei. This policy is being implemented (and patients are being discharged too early) due to a shortage of beds in the new hospital,” Portelli charged.
On his part, Muscat explained that “While we could easily perform twenty cataract interventions in one day, this would not be possible in the case for example of hip or knee replacements. Costs depend on complexity, duration and quality.
“However, it seems, this island has enough money to for government to persist in its own way rather than adopt a more comprehensive approach. For some odd reason, government still seems to fear a level playing field.
“A chicken brain political mentality, but then again our island excels in this field. If we ever manage to break this barrier, it would prove to be to the advantage of everyone,” Muscat insisted.

czahra@mediatoday.com.mt