Doctors' union rejects proposal to farm out work

An offer by the authorities to subcontract some health centre services to private clinics was shot down by the doctors' union which is going ahead with directives that will close half of the island's health centres.

Yesterday the Medical Association of Malta also directed doctors working at hospital's Emergency Department to prioritise patients referred to the department.

However, association president Martin Balzan said this excluded real emergencies which would still be seen to immediately.

"People who just pop over will be asked for a referral ticket. Patients should consult their GPs before going to the Emergency Department," he said.

The association is taking action over its complaint that although it has been calling on the authorities to concentrate human resources in fewer clinics as a short-term measure to alleviate the shortage of doctors, no such action has been taken.

When contacted, Dr Balzan said passing some of the health centre services to the private sector would not solve the current problems since the pool of doctors in Malta would remain the same.

"There is a limited number of doctors in Malta and even private hospitals are having problems finding them," he said.

Dr Balzan said it was feared that the proposed measure could lead to some health centre doctors moving to the private sector, exacerbating the current shortage.

"This could create a cascade of doctors leaving because they find that they can no longer manage. We are approaching a critical threshold where doctors may get fed up and leave," he said.

Cooperation with the private sector to cut down on waiting lists had been promised by the Nationalist Party in its electoral manifesto. Discussions about such cooperation were also held with Saint James Hospital, its head, Josie Muscat, said.

Dr Muscat said the hospital had been approached by the authorities some months ago but no agreements had ever been reached.

Dr Balzan said the association was willing to make a number of concessions. He said the association's proposals would have put very small limits on the operating hours of certain health centres, although he would not say what these were, only saying that health centre doctors were willing to go an extra mile to keep the clinics open. "The government continued to insist on the status quo, which is not tenable," he said.

However, he said, the door was still open for discussions.

This week Social Policy Minister John Dalli criticised the directives, which will kick in at 8 a.m. on Monday and call on doctors at the Qormi, Rabat and Cottonera health centres to report for work at other clinics while the Gżira health centre will only be open half day.

He said it was wrong for the association to take matters into its own hands. He said the health service could not revolve around the convenience of doctors who want to juggle their work in health centres and their private practice, adding that everything had to be centred around the patient.