Short supply of Maltese anaesthetists

Half of Malta's fully-trained anaesthetists were foreign, underlining the need to continue training new doctors, the chairman of Mater Dei Hospital's Anaesthesia Department, Joseph Zarb Adami, said.

"We are vulnerable because if the expatriates had to leave, we would end up without a health service," he said.

Dr Zarb Adami said 20 of Malta's anaesthetists were foreign, most coming from Eastern European countries, including Bosnia Herzegovina, Serbia, Croatia, Poland and Russia. There were another 20 Maltese anaesthetists and 14 trainees.

He pointed out that, if foreign anaesthetists had to return to their homeland, Malta's health service would be dealt a big blow because anaesthesia was essential for surgery to take place.

Dr Zarb Adami said a lot of effort was being put into training young doctors in the specialisation and, for the second time running, Mater Dei's Anaesthesia, Intensive Care and Pain Medicine Department has been officially accredited as a European Centre for Training in Anaesthesiology by the European Society of Anaesthesiology and the European Board of Anaesthesiology.

Training in anaesthesiology is a five-year course and young doctors who complete their two-year housemanship are chosen to enter the programme. Dr Zarb Adami said anaesthetists had been fully-trained in Malta for the past eight years, although trainees were also given the opportunity to get work experience abroad. "We feel that, since we are a small country, it is worth sending them for training abroad," he explained.

Malta first received the accreditation five years ago, following a visit by experts from the European Society of Anaesthesia who assessed local teaching. The accreditation was renewed in December and the department was lauded for its dedication to training.