Doctors welcome proposed reform

Family doctors have welcomed the proposed reform in primary health care, which will give them a more important role in the treatment and prevention of illness.

“We are eager and awaiting the reform,” the president of the Association of Private Family Doctors, Anthony Azzopardi said.

Proposals on the long-awaited reform are expected to be opened for consultation shortly.

Under the reform, a registration system will be introduced through which patients choose a family doctor who will guide them in all their medical needs.

Dr Azzopardi said registration would give patients a fixed point of reference, although, he added, doctors still had to discuss what this entailed.

Family doctors have also welcomed the commitment to give them access to patient records. In an interview with The Times, Health Parliamentary Secretary Joe Cassar said many patients went to their family doctor for small ailments but when something really worried them, they went directly to a specialist. This was something the authorities were completely against because family doctors would be extremely important in guiding patients to the right expert.

In fact, Dr Azzopardi said insurance companies insisted patients went to their family doctor before seeing a specialist.

“It is quite common for patients to go directly to a specialist but sometimes they go to the wrong one, someone who does not have the right specialisation for their problem,” he said.

Moreover, family doctors would be able to assess the urgency of a patient’s needs and inform specialists.

However, Dr Azzopardi said this system had to be made clearer through established policy because although this already happened in certain cases, it only took place when the general practitioner was familiar with the other doctor.

When contacted, the president of the Medical Association of Malta, Martin Balzan said the MAM agreed family doctors should have a role of gatekeepers, which would lead to greater patient satisfaction while lowering costs and pressure on other health services like the casualty department.

The association believed it was important to have better links between primary and tertiary health care and improved continuity of care, he said.

He added that the association needed to see the reform document before making further comments.