Maltese Medical Students Call Out Government’s Failed Promises And Show Concern Over Future Plans
Maltese medical students have released a statement calling out the government for its failed promises and showing concern over future plans to shift the school out of Mater Dei.
Additionally, they called out the vision of increased privatisation of the health sector, alluding to it being a bad idea.
“While we appreciate and agree with the sentiment to increase the space available at Mater Dei Hospital for clinical use, this should not come at a cost to our, or any healthcare professional’s education, especially when considering the promises that have been broken would have resulted in both an increase in available space, and an improvement in our standards of education,” the Malta Medical Students’ Association (MMSA) wrote in a public statement.
Meanwhile, the University’s Dean of Medicine told Lovin Malta that he “shares the anxieties” expressed by the MMSA regarding the plans to shift the school out of Mater Dei.
However, he acknowledged that the idea is still in a very early stage and that a lot more discussions will take place before a final decision is taken.
In Labour’s 2022 electoral manifesto, the party pledged that it would finish the work on the new medical school at the University of Malta with facilities of the most advanced and to ensure that our country will continue to have medical professionals with the best skills for the future.
It further committed to opening new halls in the existing medical school at Mater Dei.
The association specifically pointed out the unfulfilled pledge of a new medical school that was meant to be completed by the end of 2022.
“We were promised a ‘state-of-the-art’ medical school in Gozo comparable to the private one of Queen Mary University of London.”
The students were faced with “vague plans and endless delays”. “As it stands, no updates have been given.”
“Following years of obscurity, we are now faced with a plan that is still at an ‘embryonic stage’ with no indication of when this will be completed, or the quality and contents of the proposed school. All this while the only place that was once earmarked for the development of a medical school near a commercial centre is now being taken away for private development.”
The association went on to state that the current medical school is not conducive to their growth as future healthcare professionals. Students grapple with a lack of indoor and unsheltered outdoor spaces as well as a small number of classrooms that are shared between hundreds of students.
Therefore, the students agreed with the idea to increase the available space at Mater Dei for clinical use but they argued that Mater Dei is the most established hospital on the island and moving away from it can significantly affect the quality of teaching.
The current proximity between the University and Mater Dei allows lecturers, healthcare professionals and students to be closer together, the association wrote.
“It integrates the organisation and scheduling of lectures, tutorials and clinical rotations within a singular institution without the need for travel between the Msida Campus, Mater Dei and the new Health Village,” it continued.
The students went on to denounce the increasing privatisation of healthcare that’s being proposed, highlighting the recent situation with Vitals Global Healthcare and Steward Healthcare International, as well as “the dire state of affairs in the UK as a result of the increasing privatisation of the NHS”.
“This is a clear example of healthcare privatisation gone wrong.”
Are the government’s proposals regarding healthcare and education concerning you too?
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