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maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 5 AUGUST 2015 3 News Government procures 130 theatre sessions from St James Hospital Public-private partnership with St James Hospital 'to reduce waiting lists significantly' MARTINA BORG THE parliamentary secretariat for health has entered into a public- private partnership agreement with St James Hospital in a bid to further reduce waiting lists at Mater Dei Hospital. Under the new agreement, the government will be hiring theatres at the private hospital for 130 oper- ating theatre sessions. "The agreement between the government and the St James group is designed to significantly reduce the number of people on the waiting list for intermediate operations," parliamentary secre- tary Chris Fearne told a news con- ference at the hospital. The issue of waiting lists had been of particular concern to the public. "This new initiative will af- fect one of the three categories of operations," the junior minister said, pointing out that intermedi- ate operations amounted to some two-thirds of the operations in the waiting list. Fearne added that the govern- ment was also in talks to secure agreements for major operations in the coming weeks as well. He said that the government had already worked to reduce waiting time for diagnostic checks like MRI scans in recent months. He also said that doctors em- ployed by the government would be able to overcome the issues of space, which is one of the issues encountered at Mater Dei. St James Hospital Interim CEO Albert Micallef said that the gov- ernment had always shown faith in the private hospital's services. Talking about his fond memories of the hospital, Fearne said that an expression of interest had been issued in recent weeks for private hospitals to offer some of their theatres for the operations. He said patients would not have to pay for this service. "We have already started new initiatives to cut down waiting lists for intermediate operations, like carrying out operations beyond 2pm and up to 8pm instead, and sometimes extending even to the weekend," he said. Fearne added that between Janu- ary and June 2015, some 26,500 operations of the kind had been carried out, which marked over 1,000 more operations compared to last year. mborg@mediatoday.com.mt Parliamentary secretary Chris Fearne (left) and interim St James Hospital CEO Albert Micallef Gaffarena association keeps both parties busy in summer heat CONTINUES FROM PAGE 1 When ques- tioned over Busuttil's and Cassar's denial, Gaffarena simply said: "They will have to testify in the courts of law." The affidavit over the Busuttil- Gaffarena meeting has sent both parties into overdrive over which party has grovelled the most to the property entrepreneurs, whose as- sets include the Qormi petrol pump which was sanctioned only recently. "The Opposition leader is in a state of panic," the Labour Party claimed in a statement, adding that "if he had nothing to hide he would have im- mediately declared it." Busuttil has since filed five libel suits against l-Orizzont and It-Tor- ca, which are both printed by the General Workers' Union, and the Labour Party. The PL said that Busuttil had al- ready denied meeting the whistle- blower over the private works commissioned by Gozo minister Giovanna Debono's husband An- thony Debono, paid by the minis- terial budget. "Busuttil later admit- ted to the meeting, and instead of revealing the PN administration's abuse, he told the whistleblower he should have stopped from doing the works when the PN was clearly headed for an electoral loss. In this case, Busuttil is denying having re- quested certain documentation so that Gaffarena's permit could be is- sued." "The PN has no problem in fil- ing these defamation suits because it has nothing to hide. In these last two years, Labour has been engulfed by scandal, and an ever-widening net of corruption. The recent Mal- lia inquiry clearly showed the ties between Castille, power, criminal- ity and money, leaving no doubt as to the way this government is be- ing run," the PN said in a reference to Judge Michael Mallia's report on former police inspector Daniel Zammit. According to the inquiry the former officer, son of former acting police commissioner Ray Zammit, stalled a court's compilation of evi- dence in the murder charges against the son-in-law of Joe Gaffarena, with whom Zammit and his father Ray (former police chief) had a busi- ness relationship. 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