Doctors’ union says medical brain drain completely reversed

Doctors' union MAM found a Eurobarometer's findings of 82% of Maltese respondents expressing satisfaction with the healthcare system - the highest ranking in the EU for positive outlook - welcome news, saying that investment in the specialisation of doctors was paying of

"We compare well with healthcare systems such as those of the UK, France, Germany and the Scandinavian countries," Medical Association of Malta president Martin Balzan said.

Among the 27 Member States, Malta stood out as having the most positive  balance of opinion on the healthcare system, pension provision and the way the country addresses inequality and poverty, and a particularly positive view on its healthcare system.

Nearly half of respondents in Malta (47%) say the system has improved, compared with only 17% who say it has got worse. This is a considerably more positive result than for any other member state, with Belgium, where 17% see improvement and 12% deterioration, the next most positive.

This result for Malta chimes with earlier findings that Malta has a particularly optimistic view relative to all other member states of how its healthcare system will change in the next 12 months.

"MAM acknowledges that major expenditure has been invested in infrastructure such as Mater Dei Hospital and that the medicines bill to the ministry of finance has progressively increased," Balzan said. "However the investment in high quality specialisation programmes in Malta both for hospital doctors and GPs, combined with the opportunity for periods of study abroad, not only has raised standards of medical care but has reversed completely the 50% medical brain drain which used to plague the health service."