PN leader Bernard Grech is pledging to take back control of the Gozo hospital in the face of a foreign operator who is failing to deliver on its promises for the healthcare sector. 

“We need to return the Gozo hospital back to the people’s hands. We cannot keep on spending millions on a health service that has not improved,” he said in an interview with Net FM.

Grech also made reference to other key PN proposals in the health care sector, most notably when it comes to mental health. He reiterated that a new mental health facility must be constructed near Mater Dei Hospital, which he said would help reduce stigma around the issue and put mental health at the heart of health care in Malta. 

Mount Carmel, he said, should be shut down and turned into a public park. 

Mount Carmel Hospital has been heavily criticised over the years, a sentiment that was revived in January of this year after a patient wrote an eye-opening account on her experience inside the hospital.

In 2018, Fearne made promises of a new mental health hospital to open near Mater Dei Hospital by 2025. There has been little progress there. However, on 9th June 2021, 28 long-term psychiatric patients were relocated from Mount Carmel Hospital to Casal Nuovo in Paola, a new “state-of-the-art” facility.

Grech also made reference to a letter sent to FATF over Malta’s potential greylisting – dismissing Prime Minister Robert Abela’s suggestion that it was somehow damaging to Malta. 

He reiterated that the Opposition was not invited to any meetings with the Prime Minister to come up with constructive solutions for the growing issue. Without them, Grech felt it was necessary to write to FATF to assure them that Malta heavily depends on financial sectors – declaring that the PN will fight to bring back the respect and credibility it deserves.