Minister waives foreign patients’ Mater Dei bill on humanitarian grounds

The health minister had to intervene in a case of humanitarian urgency, when an elderly patient – a non-EU woman – had no money to pay for her medical bills for treatment at Mater Dei Hospital.

The elderly patient at St Vincent de Paul Residence needed medical treatment and to undergo surgery, and complained that the authorities at Mater Dei had refused green-light an operation because she owed money to MDH from a previous hospitalisation.

She claimed that due to financial problems, she could not pay the outstanding bill.

“The medical condition of the complainant was in such a bad state that even sitting down and walking was becoming difficult. [She] requested the intervention of the Commissioner for Health to investigate and asked that on humanitarian grounds, she will be allowed to undergo the operation that was due for a number of years,” the Commissioner said in case notes filed for the Ombudsman’s annual report.

The patient had come to Malta with her son from a non-EU country. After some time in Malta, the complainant had to be hospitalised and the hospital authorities rightly asked the patient to pay quite a substantial amount for the services rendered.

The bill amounted to thousands of euro, the health commissioner said.

Subsequently, her son died in Malta, leaving her alone and destitute. With outstanding bills yet to be paid, Mater Dei could only performy ‘life or death procedures’ – in this case, the medical intervention needed was not considered as ‘life or death’.

The patient made a request to the authorities for the bills to be waived on humanitarian grounds, considering that there was no way for her to be in a position to pay.

The Chief Medical Officer scheduled an appointment at the outpatient department but on the day, the patient was not seen by the consultant because the approval to waive the outstanding bills was not yet forthcoming.

The Commissioner for Health informed the CMO of what happened and recommended that humanitarian grounds should be considered not only to waive the outstanding bill but also for the patient to be treated urgently.

Following the intervention of the Commissioner for Health, the minister authorised the waiver of the outstanding balance in terms of Legal Notice 201 of 2004.

The patient was given an appointment for the same day and operated without any further delay. Following the operation and necessary treatment, the patient was sent back to St Vincent de Paul Residence.

In a letter to the Commissioner, the complainant thanked him for his intervention and informed the Commissioner that the operation was successful, and that her condition was very much improved.