Increase in clinical manpower very disappointing - Dalli

Thirty-five of the 40 consultants who opted out of private practice to work full time in the public sector had not worked privately, Social Policy Minister John Dalli said.

Speaking to The Times, Mr Dalli said the 35 consultants were already working full time with the government before the new collective agreement came into effect. And the other five - who are understood to be newly-appointed - will be taking on administrative posts, meaning that there will be no increase in clinical manpower, something that Mr Dalli described as "very disappointing".

However, the president of the Medical Association of Malta, Martin Balzan argued that it was difficult to determine how many consultants have chosen to give up private practice because everybody was free to do private practice.

The new consultants who chose to work solely with the government were those who were appointed over the last year, Dr Balzan said, adding that this was to be expected since it took years to build up a private practice.

However, he continued, there is an ongoing debate among established consultants who are looking at the possibility of giving up their private practice in a bid to improve their quality of life. There are about 180 consultants in the public sector.

The 40 consultants chose a package which will see their salary shoot up from about €30,000 last year to just over €56,000 in 2010 after forfeiting private practice, as outlined in the collective agreement for doctors signed last year. The agreement was expected to translate into better quality of care with afternoon sessions in order to cut waiting lists.

The minister expressed disappointment at the poor take-up, which showed that either the collective agreement did not address the current problems or was being manipulated.

"The objective was to increase the number of doctors working full time with the government and it seems that this has not been reached," he said, adding that the authorities were working on the necessary revisions although he warned that this would take time. It was important to speak to the association to determine the way forward, Mr Dalli said.

Dr Balzan argued that the collective agreement was a success, although it has not seen its full benefit as there were more doctors willing to operate than there were theatres available. Patients will not get the full benefit until the hospital management ensures that the hospital is fully operational.

The collective agreement also allows doctors who practise privately to choose between two other contracts and do extra sessions in the afternoon.