Family doctors can do more if they are given more tools, the Association of Private Family Doctors and the Malta College of Family Doctors said in their proposals for the Budget.

In a joint statement, they encouraged decision-makers to fully roll-out the national electronic patient health records for primary care and improve communication between primary and secondary care by investing in the digital interfaces needed to put all patient information from different medical branches available online.

They also requested a route for all family doctors to be able to apply for free (Schedule V) medication on behalf of their patients; make more investigations available to all family doctors and make permanent the shortcuts to bureaucratic triangulations that worked so well during the last months.

All this, they said, would improve the patient experience of the health service. It would decrease the number of stops needed and days taken off work to access health services as well as the costs of hospital consultations. The proposals would also allow hospital consultants to focus on the more needy cases.

They encouraged decision-makers to invest in the participation of family doctors in the prevention of cancer, to complement the massive investment made in the past years in screening, early diagnosis, treatment and hospital management.

They also called for the setting up of a research fund for primary care that includes research into the prevention of cancer in its broad sense.