The government and the doctors’ union have made good progress in talks on outsourcing emergency services to ease pressure on Mater Dei Hospital, Martin Balzon, president of the Medical Association of Malta said on Wednesday.
Speaking on TVM’s Popolin discussion programme, he said that various aspects of the government’s plans were being discussed, notably the process of referral of patients to private hospitals and who was responsible for what during the transfer.
The government earlier this month announced plans to refer some patients from the Mater Dei emergency department to three private hospitals. The MAM complained of a lack of prior consultation and ordered its members not to refer patients from Mater Dei to private hospitals.
Balzan said on Wednesday that while public-private partnerships were good in principle, the operating procedure should have been discussed and agreed upon at the outset with the doctors, especially as it had legal implications for them.
Health Minister Jo Etienne Abela said patient transfers were not something new, with transfers from Gozo to Malta being a case in point. Patient transfer protocols existed everywhere and it was not a case of inventing the wheel.
Balzan said the example of transfers from Gozo to Malta was not an exact like-with-like situation because in that case, the provider in both cases was the government, whereas in the case of the emergency cases, it would be a state hospital to a private hospital.
The minister said that the private hospitals would be handling non-complex emergency cases, such as appendix cases. Major emergencies would continue to be handled at Mater Dei.
Balzan said it was not infrequent for ‘minor’ cases to worsen. But thankfully progress had now been made about how such situations would be handled.
The minister reiterated a point he made in parliament that in terms of a 2018 agreement, the government needed written union approval for public-private partnerships involving the transfer of core health services, such as the transfer of a hospital. With regard to outsourcing of services, the government was required to consult the unions, but not seek their approval.
He said some 350 people went to the Mater Dei emergency department every day, of whom 50 could be transferred to private hospitals under the new plans, easing pressure on the department.
He said he had been in contact with the Auditor-General and will have a meeting with him on Friday to invite him to assess the outsourcing process in the case of the emergency department, as well as the outsourcing of IVF services and the situation at the (delayed opening of ) Censu Moran Health Hub in Paola. He had nothing to hide and was not protecting anyone, he said.
Dispute over 'overstretched' health centres
At the end of the debate Balzan referred to another dispute, saying health centres were suffering a shortage of staff and severe pressures. He wasn't blaming the minister for the situation, he said, but the number of patients was rising faster than doctors could handle. Health centre doctors were 'overstretched' and had even been denied leave.
The union, he said, had given notice of industrial action over the issue. He wanted all issues to be resolved together. The doctors had already taken a vote and approved action.
The minister denied that health centre doctors had been denied leave and regretted that such actions were being taken at the worst time of the year for patients.