No specialised doctors were available to see children with gastric conditions, parents have complained to the Times of Malta.

Children who were coeliac, suffering from an auto-immune disease triggered by gluten, or had an inflammatory bowel ailment, also known as Crohn’s disease, had no paediatric gastroenterologist to see them, the parents said.

In coeliac disease, the immune system is mistakenly triggered by a substance in food called gluten, which produces antibodies and attacks the small intestine. If the disease remains undiagnosed, the villi in the small intestine, which absorb the vital nutrients from food, are damaged, leading to a multitude of symptoms ranging from minor discomfort to life-threatening conditions.

One parent who spoke to the Times of Malta said doctors at Mater Dei Hospital did the best they could but were sometimes overwhelmed with having to deal with cases they did not specialise in.

The parent, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said: “I do not think we have bad doctors or nurses, I just think they are understaffed.”

The woman, whose daughter suffers gastric conditions, said she feared the lack of specialist doctors might have serious implications on the young patients’ health.

“The illness [my child] has, will have implications on her for the rest of her life,” the parent said.

“I expect her to get the healthcare she deserves.”

A Health Ministry spokeswoman said children with gastroenterological problems were seen at Mater Dei by a consultant paediatrician.

“Those cases with more complex clinical problems are referred to two visiting consultants who hold regular clinics at Mater Dei,” she noted.

Paediatric patients requiring an endoscopy were also reviewed by the consultant paediatric surgical team, she said.