Let's be honest, doctors insist

The Medical Association of Malta has urged the government to address the doctor shortage problem.

Association general secretary Martin Balzan said that although the Health Ministry said it had "no indications" that a number of doctors were planning to leave St Luke's Hospital, during a Council of Ministers meeting in Brussels the government said that Malta "already experiences a significant net outflow of doctors yearly".

"With up to 80 per cent of Maltese doctors having already left the island, we cannot afford to continue burying our heads in the sand," he said. Mr Balzan expressed the MAM's hope that the government would not adopt a policy of telling the truth within European Union forums while trying to hide it from the Maltese public.

"The fragmentary and partial data provided by the health authorities can only be interpreted as a weak effort to produce a smoke screen for a very serious problem which is quickly becoming worse.

Let us be honest and deal with problems," he emphasised.