The doctors’ union is hoping to strike a deal with the government this week over the State hospitals’ transfer saga in the form of guarantees for its members and on the level of service provided to patients.

The union is at loggerheads with the government over the transfer of the three hospitals from Vitals Global Healthcare (VGH) to Steward Health Care.

The Medical Association of Malta and the Health Ministry will be meeting on Wednesday and Thursday to iron out the text of the agreement with the guarantees, which, according to union general secretary Martin Balzan, will be “a compromise”.

“All we have to do is agree on the text and put pen to paper. We’re that close now. I cannot divulge what the agreement contains. All I can tell you is that it will offer certain elements of guarantee for our members and on the level of service provided to patients,” Dr Balzan said when contacted on Monday.

All we have to do is agree on the text and put pen to paper. We’re that close now

Pressed on whether the MAM had backtracked from its original position to have the VGH agreement rescinded, Dr Balzan said: “That was our original goal, but I think that what we have agreed upon in principle will achieve the same results in a different way. It’s a compromise.”

Asked what will happen if no agreement is reached, Dr Balzan said the union was “prepared for the eventuality”. Questioned on if this meant more industrial action, he said the union could resort to other measures such as legal ones. However, he said he had “full faith” it would not get to that stage.

The MAM is accusing the government of breaching its collective agreement, which states that it should have been notified six weeks in advance over the transfer of the St Luke’s, Karin Grech and Gozo General hospitals from VGH to Steward.

This clause was agreed in May of last year following prolonged negotiations over a new collective agreement, which was sealed a few weeks before the general election. At the time, doctors were seeking guarantees over its members’ conditions of work by virtue of the concession given to VGH, which was doing its own recruitment and had even requested the Auditor General to scrutinise the deal.

Despite reaching an agreement, MAM remained critical and is insisting that government must remain in control of State hospitals, be it directly or an indirectly.

Doctors held a one-day strike earlier this month and later approved a resolution to proceed with further industrial action.

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