Medical Council asks police to investigate

The Malta Medical Council has called upon the police to investigate claims of foreign doctors working in Malta without being registered to practice.

The Medical Council's acting registrar, Michael Bonnici, yesterday told The Times the council was informed of the names of the hotels where unlicensed doctors were allegedly practising.

Mr Bonnici said the council immediately informed the police so that they could investigate and take any action against those carrying out such illegal activities.

The case was brought to light by St Philip's Hospital's director Frank Portelli, who reported that foreign doctors were accompanying groups of tourists staying in three hotels in St Julians.

In an e-mail to the council on Friday evening, Dr Portelli gave the names of the three hotels, saying doctors had been treating tourists who fall ill, and even issued prescriptions.

Dr Portelli had told The Times that a pharmacy in the locality was presented with a prescription issued by a doctor who was not registered with the council, and which could not be dispensed.

Any doctor practising in Malta must have a warrant by the President of Malta and be registered with the council.

Contacted yesterday, Dr Portelli said that for a doctor or nurse to work in Malta they had to go through a series of procedures and it was not right for others to bypass them. Moreover, he continued, it was only by following the established regulations that one could be sure that medical practitioners working in Malta were properly trained.

He pointed out that these cases were different from those of doctors accompanying sick people to Lourdes or patients to a hospital abroad, as these needed special medical attention.

Questions sent to the police asking for a confirmation that they had been called upon to investigate and which section of the force was investigating the claims remained unanswered at the time of writing.