‘Don’t make the medical profession a scapegoat for government’s failures’ - MAM

The Medical Association of Malta (MAM) has warned government not to use the medical profession as a scapegoat for its own failures after the health minister criticised the union for stonewalling sectoral reforms.

In a press statement, the association said it was satisfied with the magisterial report into the death of Stephen Mangion, who died in Mater Dei Hospitals’ emergency department after suffering chest pains. The report did not find that his death was a result of negligence by any workers on shift that day.

“Doctors did their best – despite a failure of systems due to lack of infrastructure. Do not make the medical profession the scapegoat for government’s failures,” the union said.

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It said that patients have to wait for unacceptable periods of time after €400 million worth of investment went down the drain, a reference to the Vitals hospitals scandal.

“While this is not directly the minister’s fault, this is a system failure because of insufficient infrastructure. The minister has to be honest and admit this publicly and apologise to patients for this situation, not blame those who do their best for patients in such unfortunate circumstances.”

The union also accused the ministry of not following its legal obligations with the association to discuss outsourcing. “It is most unfair for the Maltese tax payer to pay €10,000 for an IVF procedure, when most centres in the European Union charge under €2,000 per procedure – a 400% cut.”

The MAM also said that the ministry recently closed a ward intended for patients on ventilation, and transferred those patients to unequipped wards, against the opinion of all the medical consultants and international guidelines on patient safety.

“In conclusion, MAM is always ready to engage in positive constructive dialogue and is always bringing members’ and patients’ concerns to the health ministry. However, it is not ready to be a scapegoat for the government’s failure to sufficiently invest in health infrastructure.”