Gozo hospital on life support due to lack of consultants

Gozo General Hospital is facing an uncertain future due to an acute shortage of medical consultants, which could result in it having to be closed down if the issue is not resolved.
For the time being, however, the hospital is being kept on life support thanks to Mater Dei doctors who have offered to take it in turns to perform duties on the sister island on a day-by-day basis. Meanwhile, the Health Ministry is in the process of issuing a number of calls to start addressing the shortages.
Though the issue has not cropped up overnight, sources told The Sunday Times of Malta that the alarm bells were only sounded recently. It transpired that the hospital management was informed that medical consultants at the medicine and paediatric divisions would no longer be opting out of the working time directive, which states that an employee cannot work more than an average of 48 hours a week.
"The issue came to a head as the consultants were working very long stretches of almost 24 hours at one go to make up for the existing shortage, with the result that they are suffering from burnout," sources said.
"In view of this, if the situation is not resolved quickly Gozo General Hospital will no...

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