I read with interest your report on Dr L. Deguara`s comments in parliament about the shortage of government doctors in health centres.

One of the solutions mentioned was the planned expansion in the number of Medical School places. This strategy will only be successful either if pay and conditions on offer by the health department improve, or if experience in working in health centres becomes a requirement for young doctors planning a career in family medicine.

I have been a general practitioner in the UK for 16 years, with a considerable interest in medical education; last year, enticed by the planned development of a postgraduate training scheme for prospective GPs in Malta, I explored the possibility of returning to the island to live and work, in part because I felt that my years of experience in this field may have been of some use to the health department.

Unfortunately, although I was offered a clinical job and encouraged to apply for a soon- to-be-advertised organiser`s post in the new department, the pay and conditions on offer were, to be honest, derisory, and I decided that the upheaval of moving my family to a different country was not worth the risk.

I can quite understand the reluctance of young doctors to work long hours for such poor remuneration, and would encourage Dr Deguara and

his officials to pay serious consideration to making these posts a lot more attractive. I doubt very much whether simply flooding the market with what may well, in the long run, turn out to be an excessive number of graduates, is sensible planning.