Doctors' industrial action - work practices need to be addressed too - Dalli

KCaruana

May 12th 2009, 23:24

Tibzax I Abela - dak li qieghdin jaghmlu it'tobba maltin - jizarmaw! Why do you think doctors are leaving the country? Abroad doctors and their hard work are still respected. The working hours are protected, the working environment is more pleasant and regulated, there is post-graduate training, career progression and the better pay is just a bonus. Before you go saying that doctors got the pay-rises they wanted look at university employee tariffs and see if they can compare at all, especially seeing the comparative workloads. Yes doctors are public servants, but they're human too and don't have to put up with all the crap that is thrown at them. Don't forget that only few are consultants - the hospital runs because of the more junior staff and it's dedication. Credit where it's due.

G Borg

May 12th 2009, 21:55

@ I Abela - If you don't like it...zarmaw

The funny thing is that the doctors are not doing this just for their own working conditions, but also to offer a better service to the patient.

seeing patients in 3mins to try and fit everybody, do you think that its the best medical service one can offer? Mistakes will surely be made, things missed out, and potential problems unresolved.

The basic medical consult should at least span 20-30mins, and sometimes more depending on each seperate case. Should patients not have a right to have that amount of time spent on them?

the basic problem of our health sector is that there are not enough resources, and the resources that there are, are not used as well as they should be.

i always suggest 2 things for a start. Everybody should be registered to his own GP practice, and GPs can refer direct to the departments, ie Medicine/Surgery/Gynae etc, which would decrease the brunt on the A+E. But that involves overhauling the current system.

J. Debono

May 12th 2009, 19:26

@I. Abela

The doctors are continuing on their normal routine, normal shift and normal work. Nothing is going to change except an inconvenience for the doctors to change their place of work, and also the inconvenience for the patients who are being politely asked to go to the nearest Health Centre instead of the one being closed.

In this industrial action, doctors are asking for nothing, they are simply stating the obvious:-

There are not enough doctors to man 7 health centres. Therefore 3 are being closed to concentrate the number of doctors in other Health Centres, this in order to give hopefully a better service than is being currently given.

The obvious solution is for the government to increase the no. of doctors working in Health Centres, thus enabling the re-opening of these Health Centres.

However it seems that with current pay and conditions, doctors are seeking employment elsewhere.

I Abela

May 12th 2009, 18:27

I seriously can't figure out what this is all about. Aren't the mentioned doctors, government employees? How on earth can a union ask the doctors to report for work at other health centres to "concentrate resourses"? Who calls the shots here? Who is the employer? Who manages the resources? To strike is one thing, but to take over the roster is another. And afterall why are doctors complaining? They are not being asked to sweep the floor. They are only being asked to do what they are paid to do and what we paid earlier to finance their knowledge. Since they are employees, they should work their shift, like the rest of us do, and go home. Then let the boss deal with the rest. Such industrial actions are baseless. We are now tired of these actions. We pay them to serve us not to serve themselves. If you don't like it...zarmaw. This is true also for the minister, solve this medical mess once and for all or zarma int ukoll.

J Farrugia

May 12th 2009, 16:27

@ Alex Pace Gouder - it seems that you have the magic wand. Please use it and make one and all happy ever after. Off course every one is right except the patient who suffers. the doctors got what they wanted in pay rises, the nurses got theirs, but the patient.... who is speaking up for the patients? They are the ones who are suffering. Sometimes quietly at other times in despair.

Mario Tabone-Vassallo

May 12th 2009, 14:11

Tassew jiddispjacini u naghder id-diffikultajiet tat-tobba fic-Centri Tas-Sahha. Dmir li wiehed jirrifletti li l-pazjenti li mhux ser jaraw huma waqt l-gheluq tac-centri, aktarx imorru d-Dipartiment tal-Emergenza fl-Isptar Mater Dei. Tajjeb li wiehed ifakkar li dad-Dipartiment tal-Emergenza ghandu hafna tobba neqsin minn numru li suppost jahdmu fih. Ghar minn hekk, il-parti l-kbira tat-tobba li hemm jahdmu fih ghadhom kemm lahqu; tajbin, herqana, izda ma ghandhomx l-esperjenza li fil-pajjizi avvanzati tal-Punent stmata b’bizzejjed biex jahdmu f’dipartiment tal-emergenza. Biex tghaxxaqha, il-pazenti tassew serji, sew minhabba mard, kif ukoll vjolenza u korriment, kollha jmorru fid-Dipartiment tal-Emergenza u mhux fic-Centri Tas-Sahha. Ma nistghux nippruvaw nghattu x-xemx bl-gharbiel.

ALEXANDER PACE GOUDER

May 12th 2009, 11:41

Here we go again. Bla Bla Bla. Come on solve these problems once and for all. Since Mater Dei opened we have had one work to rule after another. Union and Government please sit round the table and solve these long outstanding problems. It is not the Health Centres that will suffer. These are made of stone. With these industrial actons it is not the Goverment which is going to suffer. It is the men in the streets and mostly the sick and those who will need medical attention, mainly in the hit health centres.