There is no doubt that teething problems are bound to be encountered in the opening of a brand new hospital. But the parking policy at Mater Dei is turning out to be a veritable farce.
Only last Wednesday, Sir Paul Boffa Hospital’s only car, which is regularly used to transport files, X-rays, and the results of blood samples to and from St Luke’s Hospital, was clamped at Mater Dei hospital.
Boffa hospital was forced to pay its clamping fine before the ageing white Skoda, with ‘Sir Paul Boffa Hospital’ clearly marked on both sides, was allowed to proceed.
Staff at Sir Paul Boffa were simply bemused. But more significantly, the Mater Dei management failed to reserve a parking space for the one and only car from Boffa Hospital in their strategic planning, and this was the reason that led the Boffa Hospital driver to park in an irregular spot.
Needless to say, the parking attendants were eager to raise revenues from clamping – and were unwilling to tell the difference between a health department vehicle and a private vehicle.
The parking management has also had many complaints from relatives of patients who complained about paying exorbitant charges when regularly visiting long-term patients. One distraught mother writing in MaltaToday remarked that she could not possibly accept the daily parking fees she was being asked to pay as her son was undergoing chemotherapy.
While Mater Dei has been slow to react, only last week the Prime Minister himself stated that he would be revisiting the parking policy.