Doctors' Union President Martin Balzan said today that while he recognised the need to support calls for more nursing staff to deal with the increased number of operations at Mater Dei, doctors did not plan to reduce the number of operations.
Dr Martin Balzan was reacting to comments by MUMN President Paul Pace reported in The Times today.
In a statement, Dr Balzan said that last Saturday, industrial action by the MUMN at the operating theatres was averted by a promise by Mater Dei management to exert pressure on doctors to reduce their operations, which were continuing past 6.00 pm many times up to 8.00pm.
"While Consultants and Medical Staff remain intent not to cancel any operations, they recognise the need to support the demand for more nursing staff in dealing with the greatly increased workload," he said.
"For this reason the MUMN's president's statements can only be considered as a bad turn of "sour grapes" where his attempts to hinder the increasing number of operations has failed."
Dr Balzan said the Medical Association (MAM) was calling on the MUMN presidency to reflect in its statements the professionalism and dedication of the vast majority of his members, rather than to continue to foment 'unjustified professional jealousy'.
Mr Pace in his comments to The Times said that political parties should come together and agree on new working conditions for hospital consultants, whose contracts were up for renewal in January.
He reiterated his willingness to meet Health Minister Joseph Cassar to discuss changingnurses' work practices, while claiming that consultants would be averse to any such changes.
"The Medical Association of Malta has implied it would want doctors to get paid overtime rates for afternoon duties. Consultants aren't normal workers, they're top professionals. A consultant gets paid more than a minister. How can they justify asking for overtime?"
He cited the MAM's criticism of a circular on operating theatre workflows as further evidence of their reluctance to change.
The doctors' union said the circular would result in fewer operations taking place.
But, according to Mr Pace, there was nothing new about the instructions. "The same circular was issued in 2006 and again in 2009. It just reminds doctors of the proper workflow procedures because things were getting out of hand. It's common sense to postpone operations by a couple of days if no ITU beds are available."
The imminent expiry of consultants' hospital contracts was a "golden opportunity" for the country to sort out the situation once and for all, Mr Pace argued.
"It's time consultants were given the option of working with the government or else going completely private. They can't have their cake and eat it," Mr Pace insisted. The Union president also argued that if faced with the choice, many consultants would remain within the public sector because those who gave up their public hospital work would lose the right to refer people to Mater Dei or issue pink or yellow medicinal cards, costing them multiple clients.
"Besides, there are plenty of fully-qualified senior registrars just waiting for a vacant consultancy post to be made available," he added.
The MAM has defended its members from charges of inflexibility, pointing to a 10 per cent year-on-year increase in the number of operations . It said hospital consultants have always gone out of their way to accommodate patients, even turning up on Sundays when needed.