Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/426299
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 3 DECEMBER 2014 News MIRIAM DALLI ST Luke's Hospital was not serv- ing its purpose as a rehabilitation hospital, with beds being increas- ingly occupied by social cases. This, PN MP Claudio Grech said, raised further questions on the lack of communit y care. Addressing the budgetary vote for the health ministry, the shad- ow health minister once again f lagged a government decision to separate the elderly portfolio from the health ministry. "With an ever-increasing ageing population, this decision does not make sense. These two sectors go hand in hand and it was a stra- tegic mistake to separate them," Grech said. He expressed concern over the fact that, during the budget speech, there was no mention of St Luke's Hospital and investment in rehabilitation services. "Investing in rehabilitation serv- ices is an important element that could help decrease overcrowd- ing at Mater Dei Hospital and its corridors. It is a pit y that beds at Karin Grech are occupied by long- term cases. Such a development is alarming because it shows that St Luke's is not serving its purpose as a rehabilitation hospital. It also shows that there is a lack of com- munit y care," Grech said. He added that the budgetary al- location for capital investment was reduced by 44%, questioning why the government was not allo- cating the necessary financing for capital investment. Grech argued that beds taken up by social cases were creating bot- tlenecks at the hospital, resulting in patients being placed in corri- dors. "Further investment is needed in all health divisions and not limited to just the hospital 's pa- rameters. The more we centralize investment in one place, the less it becomes manageable," he said, calling for investment in primary healthcare and health centres. The government has announced a new finance initiative to make surgeons work more at public hos- pitals instead of taking patients out of the system so that they pay for 'preferential ' surgery in private clinics. With Medical Plus Malta, the government is proposing that specialists will offer medical op- erations at weekends in the under- utilised operating theatres, which tend to remain closed unless an emergency crops up. Medical Plus will enter into Public Private Part- nership arrangements with spe- cialists at Mater Dei. Apart from increasing the number of opera- tions during working hours, op- erations will be carried out during weekends, when operating thea- tres are idle. However, Grech argued that this was no PPP, because an agree- ment was signed with the Malta Orthopaedic Consultancy Serv- ices, owned by six orthopaedic consultants who already work at Mater Dei. "The contract is for a year-long term and consultants must carry out 150 knee and hip replace- ments. It appears as a positive ini- tiative but the government should explain why it didn't make use of the collective agreement for these extra sessions to take place." According to Grech, the contract was signed to avoid the provisions of the collective agreement. St Luke's Hospital 'not serving rehabilitation purposes' Marlene Farrugia dubs LNG tanker 'as ugly as the biblical plagues' LABOUR MP Marlene Farrugia called on Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi "to carry out his duty" and in- form parliament on what was being decided on the government energy plan. She said it was high time for the people to know what was going on with Labour's new energy plan, es- pecially people of the fifth district who will now have to face "a tanker as ugly as the biblical plagues". Farrugia was referring to the pro- posed berthing of a floating LNG storage vessel in the middle of Mar- saxlokk bay to provide natural gas to the power station. Urging both sides of the House to seek consensus on the energy sector, Farrugia said it was time for the En- ergy Minister to lay all cards on the table. "This morning, on our way to the hospital in an ambulance taking my mother for an emergency operation, she told me to come to parliament and do my duty. And this is what I'm doing: I'm carrying out my duty," Farrugia said in her opening com- ments. Arguing that Malta was the envy of other nations, the MP said it was natural for her to urge the govern- ment to continue improving the health services. In her brief intervention during the budgetary vote for the energy and health ministry, Farrugia said the energy sector was the backbone of the country's economy, which dic- tated the nation's competitiveness and investment attractiveness. "It is a sector which should not be marred by speculation. Let us be clear: this government faced huge debts which accumulated over the years for the reason that both En- emalta and the Water Services Cor- poration were used as a political football." She argued that subsequent gov- ernments used the entities to employ people even though these would not be productive in the sector, while turning a blind eye to energy theft. Farrugia said the nation had been promised a power station by March 2015 and ever since there was a change in plans, the people were not given an explanation of what was be- ing negotiated. "How will the new plan make good for what the residents of the fifth dis- trict have to give up? If Konrad Mizzi truly loves his country, which I'm sure he does, he should give a clear explanation." She said the minister should also explain how the volatile price mar- kets will impact energy prices. "Today we expect the minister to lay all cards on the table and explain why residents of Marsaxlokk and Birzebbugia have to carry out this sacrifice with a tanker that will be as ugly as the biblical plagues," she said. During his intervention, Labour MP Deo Debattista urged the gov- ernment to invest in solar energy, suggesting that the land in Maghtab should be covered with photovoltaic panels. Debattista insisted that the gov- ernment should not wait until fossil fuels ran out to start heavily invest- ing in renewable energy.