Gozo General Hospital is facing an uncertain future due to an acute shortage of medical consultants, which could result in it having to be closed down if the issue is not resolved.
For the time being, however, the hospital is being kept on life support thanks to Mater Dei doctors who have offered to take it in turns to perform duties on the sister island on a day-by-day basis. Meanwhile, the Health Ministry is in the process of issuing a number of calls to start addressing the shortages.
Though the issue has not cropped up overnight, sources told The Sunday Times of Malta that the alarm bells were only sounded recently. It transpired that the hospital management was informed that medical consultants at the medicine and paediatric divisions would no longer be opting out of the working time directive, which states that an employee cannot work more than an average of 48 hours a week.
“The issue came to a head as the consultants were working very long stretches of almost 24 hours at one go to make up for the existing shortage, with the result that they are suffering from burnout,” sources said.
“In view of this, if the situation is not resolved quickly Gozo General Hospital will no longer be able to operate on a 24-hour basis, which in practical terms means that it will have to close down,” they added.
When this newspaper contacted the Health Ministry we were told that in the coming days calls would be issued to fill the existing vacancies.
The recruitment will be made in line with a recent agreement signed between the ministry and the doctors’ union (Medical Association of Malta). This accord states that even though US group Steward Healthcare has acquired a concession to manage the hospital on the sister island, the government will remain responsible for engaging staff. “In the coming days a number of consultant and resident specialist posts will be advertised at Gozo General Hospital. These posts will include amongst others a consultant in emergency medicine as well as other posts in various medical specialities,” a ministry spokeswoman said.
“These posts will be followed by others over the next few months as the human resources at Gozo hospital will be bolstered in line with the increasing services provided,” the ministry added.
In the immediate term, however, the solution will be to have medical consultants currently engaged at Mater Dei Hospital performing their duties in Gozo on a roster basis.
This was confirmed by MAM general secretary Martin Balzan who said that this agreement was reached as a gesture of goodwill as doctors themselves volunteered to support their colleagues in Gozo.
“This is a temporary measure as medical consultants at Mater Dei have a job to do as well. The long-term solution is to recruit more staff in line with the recently signed agreement,” Dr Balzan said.