The Health Minister agrees with a group of medical consultants who launched a judicial protest against him, that consultants who work exclusively for the public service and those who do private work after hours should not be treated differently.
Reacting to the complaint, Jo Etienne Abela 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 health minister, complaining of discrimination in favour of consultants who work exclusively for the public service.
They observed that in terms of a collective agreement between the government and the Medical Association of Malta signed three years ago, consultants who worked exclusively for the public service are paid considerably more. There are also notable differences in the way their working hours are allocated.
Yet, both sets of consultants are expected to do the same work, provide the same service and assume the same responsibilities during their working hours independently of whether or not they work exclusively for the state.
Reacting, Abela said that MAM and the government had come up with a "dichotomous contract" for medical consultants, resident specialists and general practitioners in 2008.
The spirit of this agreement consisted of creating two "classes" of specialists, he explained.
Members of the MAM council forcefully opposed such a meeting, and the matter was left unsettled
Contract A specialists work only in the national health service while Contract B specialists work in the national service but are also allowed to do private work. The salary for Contract A specialists is "very significantly higher", he said, adding that successive sectoral agreements - up to and including the last signing in January 2022 - cemented this trend.
"In October 2024 I became aware that a sizeable group of Contract B specialists - who go by the name of Medics for Change - have been vying for this disparity to be addressed.
"Emails confirm that in October 2024, in my capacity as minister, I was more than willing to meet with this group of doctors, as of course is normal routine practice for any politician."
At that time, members of the MAM council forcefully opposed such a meeting, and the matter was left unsettled, he said.
"I re-iterate my personal conviction that I have no objection at all to having discussions with the aim of abolishing this disparity in the next sectoral agreement in 2026.
"By now it is very clear, that I intend to harness every possible (public or private) asset and resource to enhance patient experience in this country."