Earlier today, the Parliamentary Secretary for Health Mr Chris Fearne, was invited on Vivantes programme on One TV, where together with Mr. Charles Grixti and MEP Candidate Prof. Lino Giano, discussed the work being done by the Government towards ensuring a better and timely service for the patient.
Mr Fearne said that the “cataract operations waiting times are going to be slashed thanks to optimal use of resources at Mater Dei. By 2015, the waiting time for this operation will be reduced to one year and eventually to 4 months by the summer of 2016. Presently waiting times for cataract surgery are close to 2 years.”
“It is also expected that in due course the service will be strenthened in Gozo.”
Mr Fearne stated that one of the initiatives that was launched recently, was that of related to the Schedule V medicines, better known as the “kartuna s-safra.” In the past, those who applied for the “kartuna s-safra,” had to wait around six weeks for it to be issued.
He added that “with this new initiative, patients can be provided with the “kartuna s-safra” on the same day that they visited by their consultant thus reducing an unwanted waste of time.”
The Parliamentary Secretary reiterated that the Government is investing in health care centres in the community, to bring the service closer to the people.
“We would like to bring the health service closer to the people, so the patient will truly start receiving a better service in the shortest time possible. This is being done thanks to the strengthening of the primary health care,” stated Mr. Fearne.
Another initiative mentioned by Mr. Fearne was the new point of care testing system which in the past couple of days, had been set up at the Rabat Health Centre. Thanks to this system, patients who regularly need Warfarin, can have their blood tested at the Health Centre and have their results issued immediately rather than having to wait for several days.
Mr Fearne said that “such an innovative project, is aimed at improving the quality of life of people since through this test the dosage of this particular medicine can be adjusted immediately. It is estimated that 1.3% of the Maltese population are in need of this medicine out of which around 4000 undergo frequent anticoagulation testing.”