Four health centres could remain closed

Four government health centres will be unable to open if the doctors' union goes ahead with plans to issue directives during a meeting tomorrow evening.

The directives would target the Rabat, Gzira, Qormi and Cospicua health centres, sources told The Sunday Times, while a spokesman for the health parliamentary secretariat said the health authorities were working on a contingency plan.

The four health centres would have to be closed so human resources could be re-routed to man the other three centres in Paola, Mosta and Floriana.

Medical Association of Malta president Martin Balzan confirmed the situation would be discussed at tomorrow's council meeting.

"The health centres are badly managed and doctors are often being left on their own to see tens of people," Dr Balzan said.

The union has long been complaining that the shortage of doctors at health centres is leading to longer waiting times and frustration for patients, who have sometimes verbally or even physically abused medical staff.

Dr Balzan said the council would be discussing the possibility of registering a dispute with the authorities and issuing directives, although he would not be drawn on what these would entail.

The health parliamentary secretariat spokesman said the health authorities were working on a contingency plan. However, health centres would have to be closed down if doctors failed to turn up, he said.

Last November, doctors working at health centres had threatened to down their stethoscopes if any doctor faced abuse.

The warning came after a doctor was punched in the face by a patient at the Paola health centre. Eight weeks earlier, a security guard at the same clinic was allegedly manhandled by a patient's relatives, while a doctor at the Qormi health centre was assaulted last month.