Private hospitals do not foresee doctors' exodus

Private hospitals are not anticipating an exodus of doctors following the recently-signed agreement giving consultants who forfeit private practice a better pay package.

Neither St Philip's Hospital director Frank Portelli nor Saint James Hospital Group director Jean Claude Muscat believe that a great number of doctors will opt out of private practice.

Through the agreement, signed between the government and the Medical Association of Malta last week, consultants who forfeit private practice will be given a minimum guaranteed salary of just over Lm28,000 (€65,222) in 2010, more than double their current salary. Although doctors who decide to maintain private practice will be given a minimum guaranteed pay of Lm18,500 (€43,093), they can raise this to some Lm24,000 (€55,904) in 2011 if they do extra afternoon sessions.

"We do not anticipate a major shift of doctors moving to full-time government posts at this stage," Mr Muscat said.

Dr Portelli voiced a similar belief. "I suspect few consultants who are well established will forego their right to independent private practice for a mere Lm4,000 per annum."

He expressed hope that a list of doctors who have forfeited private practice will be published "so that everything is above board and private hospitals will not be asked to police doctors".

Mr Muscat said at no stage did the government consider how the agreement might affect private hospitals. "We have never been included in any discussions on the local healthcare scenario."

He said the Health Ministry never consults with private hospitals on major healthcare issues, such as the badly-needed reform in this sector. "This is a pity for the healthcare sector in general because we should be complementing each other's services not competing with each other."

Both Dr Portelli and Mr Muscat said the improvement in doctors' remuneration was "long overdue".

"Successive governments have not tackled the issue of the poor working conditions of the medical and nursing staff in the public sector," Dr Portelli said.

Mr Muscat does not believe this agreement will push doctors who do private practice to ask for better remuneration, saying that doctors in private practice receive a "reasonably attractive remuneration".

Of concern was the fact that the government has increased wages across the board but there was no apparent change in the healthcare system or policies. "This means we are still in a situation where public and private hospitals compete with each other on a playing field which is not level," Mr Muscat said.

Dr Portelli said for years there was the perverse thinking that investing in building was more important than investing in human resources. "As a result we have the most lavish and expensive hospital in Europe but our medical personnel are subjected to some of the worst conditions of work."

He pointed out that for Mater Dei Hospital to operate in "full-time mode" with afternoon sessions for operations as well as outpatient sessions, rather than the "ludicrous part-time system", there is a need for more doctors and nurses.