Labour would set maximum waiting times for operations - Muscat

A Labour government would introduce a health charter that would set maximum waiting times for operations and allow patients to receive treatment in private hospitals at the government’s expense if these targets were not kept, Labour leader Joseph Muscat said this morning. Addressing a news conference outside Mater Dei Hospital, Dr Muscat said this measure was in anticipation of an EU directive on patient mobility, which he expected to be in place within a year. The PL, he said, would also introduce a system for delivering medicine to elderly over 70, the severely disabled and people who were immobile to their homes. The medicines would be delivered by professionals, such as retired nurses. A Labour government would increase primary health care expenditure by €8 million, it would modernise and expand health centres and open new ones in areas such as Zurrieq. The PL would also spend €1 million more on Gozo General Hospital and would modernise the procurement of the free medicines system. Dr Muscat criticised the government’s proposal for people entitled to free medicine to get this from the private sector against a refund when it was out of stock. The government, he said, was...