Opposition health minister Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca has argued that the lack of a rehabilitation hospital was a major shortcoming as Mater Dei Hospital attempted to cater for its massive bed shortage.
"Mater Dei accommodates patients who are undergoing rehab following an operation or surgery. In some cases, rehab takes up to five weeks," she said.
Coleiro Preca added that Karin Grech was not a rehabilitation hospital for younger adults, but for the elderly. She added that while St Vincent de Paule formerly housed its own hospital for the elderly under a Labour administration, this had been removed by the Nationalist government.
Coleiro Preca said it was not right to place a 20-year-old in a room with elderly patients. "Minister Joe Cassar should stop deceiving people and admit that Karin Grech Hospital is not a rehab hospital for younger adults," she said.
Coleiro Preca said that government had provided only a "quick fix solution" to the overcrowding problem at Mater Dei.
Last week, government said that it would increase one-bedded rooms to two.
"This was a simple cosmetic measure which led to nowhere. There are already 50 patients in the corridors of the pediatric area and of another area," Coleiro Preca said.
She added that in Area 2, an area meant to accommodate 6 patients, is currently accommodating 24. "With all these patients clustered together all at one go, it's no wonder that we then hear about the spreading of viruses."
Coleiro Preca said government should start "investigating" its failure at Mater Dei. "There are not only problems with bed shortages but also shortcomings at ITU. Government did not listen to recommendations made for a bigger ITU."
Coleiro Preca also said that the strengthening of the primary healthcare sector would help reduce the burden of Mater Dei.
By way of example, she said that while a Labour government had introduced public primary healthcare services which also included dentistry, this was dismantled from the community as soon as Mater Dei was built.
"Cassar should stop blaming the 'hot and cold weather' for the hospital overcrowding. What would happen if we have some major crisis? How will Mater Dei face the problem?"
A start to the solutions by a Labour government would also be by the primary health care which would bring on board family doctors, pharmacists and other stakeholders.
She said there's also a commitment by PL leader Joseph Muscat for public-private partnership schemes.
On the waiting list for operations, Coleiro Preca said that while in 1996 the Labour government had started the outsourcing of operations, in 1998 this was discarded. "If this hadn't happened, we wouldn't be in the tragic situation we are in today," she said.
Asked whether she trusted the CEO of Mater Dei, Coleiro Preca said the problem was not the individual, but the whole management. "The CEO has to follow what government says and its policies," she said.