PN welcomes intermediate care facility but asks what happened to all other hospitals PL promised

The Nationalist Party on Tuesday welcomed the call for the construction of a new intermediate care hospital at St Vincent de Paul. The need for serious investment in the health of our people, particularly our elderly, has long been felt, and the Partit Nazzjonalista has consistently called on the Government to invest in a sector that has been neglected in recent years.

It would be appropriate for the Government to provide a timeframe for when this 300-bed hospital for the elderly will be completed, the PN said.

At the same time, however, it would also be appropriate for the Government to provide timeframes for:

When works to restructure St Luke’s Hospital will begin and be completed so that it can start receiving patients;

When works to restructure Karin Grech Hospital will begin and be completed so that it can be fully utilised;

When the new Gozo hospital will begin and be completed;

When works on the extension of the Emergency Department at Mater Dei Hospital will begin and be completed;

When the new mental health hospital – about which we have heard so many differing versions – will begin and be completed.

It would also be appropriate for the Government to clarify what will happen to Mount Carmel Hospital, the majority of which building has been condemned, the PN said.

The government should also ensure serious investment in primary care by guaranteeing that every town has at least a clinic – if not a health centre – to cater for the most basic needs. We remind that, despite population growth, several clinics and health centres have been closed in recent years and remain shut, creating increasing pressure on other centres and on Mater Dei Hospital.

When in government, the PN said it invested fully in healthcare through the construction of a new hospital – without which the situation today would be unthinkable – the building of an oncology centre providing care for cancer patients, and continuous investment in health centres across Malta and Gozo.

In healthcare, people deserve a serious government with a clear plan, not one which, in nearly 15 years, has failed to deliver on its promises and now, with an election approaching, is once again reviving “silly season” pledges that remain unfulfilled.

We hope that this Sir Temi Zammit Hospital, which the Government has suddenly and with a sense of urgency announced with the issuance of a development call, is not yet another such promise, the PN said.

 

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