The doctors' union on Friday claimed the Health Minister made a U-turn over the issue of medical consultants' pay, saying Jo Etienne Abela was trying to "divide the medical profession".
The Medical Association of Malta was reacting to comments by Abela, who on Thursday said he agreed with a group of medical consultants who launched a judicial protest against him. He said consultants who worked exclusively for the public service and those who did private work after hours should not be treated differently.
He told Times of Malta he wanted to abolish the disparity between the two groups in the next sectoral agreement scheduled for 2026.
Earlier this week, medical consultants who work in the public service and do private work after hours filed a judicial protest against the minister, complaining of discrimination in favour of consultants who work exclusively for the public service.
Abela said that MAM and the government had come up with a "dichotomous contract" for medical consultants, resident specialists and general practitioners in 2008.
When - last October - he learnt that a group of consultants wanted to address the disparity, Abela expressed his willingness to meet, however, "members of the MAM council forcefully opposed such a meeting, and the matter was left unsettled".
Reacting to the minister's comments, the MAM on Friday said it was "surprised at the minister’s U-turn".
"Just a week ago, a request by MAM to set up a working group on the issue of contracts for the consultant grade was turned down by the Health Ministry for the third time.
"This latest attempt during the most recent dispute was initially accepted by government negotiators but was then refused at the last moment by the Health Ministry," MAM said.
MAM denied that it opposed any meeting by the health minister with "any third party".
It said that for the past 17 years, consultants could freely choose to work exclusively for the government at a premium or retain their private practice.
"Minister Abela should stop using this issue to divide the medical profession and proceed with constructive dialogue," MAM added.