News • 29 June 2003

MAM President refuses to deny he was one of the absent doctors

Matthew Vella

The Medical Association of Malta has been a very angry bunch in the last weeks.

Whilst the public hailed the Health Ministry’s intention of running spot-checks on doctors reporting late for work, the MAM has threatened that, whereas discretion had been their maxim with the national health’s shortcomings in the past, now they might not be so nice anymore.

Which is maybe also why Dr Stephen Fava, MAM President, believes the health division should be looking at lost files, lost blood results and X-rays and the NHS’s small workforce rather than those 19 doctors who had reported late for work.

Perhaps that is why the MAM lurched out so aggressively against the health division. Strangely, President Dr Stephen Fava was reportedly one of the doctors implicated in the reports over tardiness at St Luke’s Hospital, alongside other members of the MAM council.

But Fava, who will "not confirm, nor deny" that he was one of the ‘group’ of 19, told MaltaToday he did not "wish to further compound the problem. If I start saying who was and who wasn’t late, then that will lead to further guesswork."

Many of the doctors, including Dr Fava, believe the media reports on the incident should have been "better investigated to see whether there was a basis for accusing doctors of being late for work."

MAM Secretary-General Dr Martin Balzan has been very defensive of the medical profession over the recent accusations levelled against the 19 doctors, who have received no slack from the media or the Health Ministry.

In comments to MaltaToday, Fava claims that whilst three of the 19 doctors had their valid reasons for reporting late, the other 16 were doing their ward rounds on the day.

"Two of these three doctors were involved in assisting medical students in their examinations, whilst the other doctor was assisting with a medical problem relating to his wife. I think these were valid reasons for them being late for outpatients."

But Health Ministry officials told MaltaToday that this is not the second time that Dr Fava has had problems explaining his absence during inspections.

According to an agreement with the Health Division, in order to assist nurses’ washing of patients at SLH, ward rounds start at 9.00 am. Fava claimed that the 16 doctors were doing ward rounds on that day, some of them reporting earlier for work in order to fit in their schedules later on in the day at the operating theatres or to visit other patients.

"In order to ensure maximum efficiency, ward rounds start early on in the day whilst theatre is carried out later on in the day. Afterwards, doctors have other patients to assist, those still waiting there throughout the day."

The MAM also say that consultants accept extra patients to be added to their outpatient lists, so as to be able to deal with urgent cases, which include those referred by the medical superintendent and the ministry.

With the MAM and the Health Ministry at loggerheads over the reports, Dr Martin Balzan has been stern with critics, saying that "if the authorities want to impose rigidity of management on doctors’ work, then management will have to take full responsibility for all the extra work that would have to be cancelled."

Operations at SLH are being performed up to 6.00pm when surgeons are supposed to stop work at 2.30pm, according to the MAM. In an effort to reduce waiting lists, non-urgent operations are performed on Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays.

"To accommodate this schedule, doctors need to be flexible," Fava insists, "Rigidity benefits neither doctors nor their patients."

There are sure signs then, that the MAM is ready for a frontal attack if the ministry further encroaches upon SLH’s doctors.

Balzan for example, has already said the health division should be poking its nose in questions concerning missing patients’ files, blood tests or X-rays which he believes, contribute mainly to the long waiting times.

He has made it clear already that the association will be pointing out these "numerous deficiencies."

"This is the situation at SLH," Fava says. "Despite that, when considering that over 52,000 patients are admitted every year to the hospital, SLH enjoys a reputation for good efficiency compared to foreign hospitals.

"When considering SLH has 450 doctors, three medics reporting late for work is certainly not a problem when considering the lost files, blood results and X-rays and the small number of doctors in the National Health Services."

Guns turned on to the authorities, Balzan says the MAM, "which has always shown discretion when dealing with the shortfalls of the health service," will not accept blame for the health division’s shortcomings, remaining of the opinion that "the vast majority of doctors are giving dedicated, first class, and conscientious service."

matthew@maltamag.com