Report about specific aspects of Health Systems in Europe by the Health Consumer Powerhouse (HCP)

No. 1626

The Euro Health Consumer Index is a survey compiled by the Health Consumer Powerhouse (HCP)in Brussels . This is an independent private healthcare organisation which is not an official European Institution. It consists of a small team of individuals who are usually supported by a number of pharmaceutical companies to carry out such surveys.

This report delves into a few specific aspects of otherwise very complex and wide dimensions of health systems in Europe . These indicators cannot be considered comprehensive by any standard, and therefore do not represent a complete picture of a country's health system.

While the ranking has dropped three places from last year one must note that the score for Malta has improved by 30 points and the number of countries in the index has also increased from 31 to 33. Malta has shown improvement in a number of indicators which the HCP have amended from their preliminary draft after consulting with the Ministry last July. For example, 90% of cancer patients receive therapy in less than 21 days from diagnosis and this ranks Malta at the top along with 11 countries from the 33 ranked within this index. Improvement has also been registered in the preventable years of life lost indicator where Malta also received top ranking.

With regards to individual dimensions of the survey, Malta has a fairly good standing in waiting time for treatment and range and reach of services provided being placed 16 th and 17 th respectively amongst the 33 countries. There are other areas where it is acknowledged that more remains to be done, particularly in e-health. While Malta was reported to rank poorly with regards to patient rights and information, HCP has acknowledged that patient groups are acquiring more of an advisory role within the health system.

Nonetheless changes to some indicator scores proposed by the Ministry are still being ignored, such as for heart infarct case fatality which is clearly above the EU average for Malta . In addition, the HCP insist that Maltese patients do not have any form of direct access to specialists or the right to access their own medical record. Even though this has been corrected by the Ministry of Social Policy repeatedly the HCP has chosen to ignore this information.

The Ministry of Social Policy would like to reiterate that, even though this report is not an official or comprehensive one, it takes note of the findings. For the 2008 report, the Ministry had highlighted three priority areas on which further work was required – waiting times for certain operations, introducing mammography screening and improving access to innovative medicines.

Starting from the last of these options, some innovative drugs have been introduced in the area of cancer including herceptin. In addition, the updated Government formulary listing all the medications available from the government pharmacy has just been published today. It is with a sense of satisfaction that the breast screening programme is being launched next month. This ties in with Government's intention to prioritise actions in the area of cancer.

As to waiting times for certain operations, Figure 1 shows the increase in the number of operations carried out on a monthly basis in MDH in 2009 compared with the same months in 2008.

Source: Surgical Operations Register 2009, Mater Dei Hospital (MDH)

Further breakdown is given in Table 1, where a clear increase in most of the most common procedures has been registered.

Source: Surgical Operations Register 2009, Mater Dei Hospital (MDH)

Nevertheless, the Ministry appreciates the HCP's commitment to consult with us regarding the standing in some of the indicators and we are happy to note that, in a number of cases, the advice given by the Ministry to the HCP has been heeded and their score amended accordingly. While agreeing that Malta still has some distance to cover, some progress has been registered over the last year, as shown above.

DOI – 28.09.2009