The Ministry for Health has failed to acknowledge or reply to a resolution from Malta Medical Students’ Association (MMSA) concerning Barts Medical School and resources at Mater Dei Hospital.

The resolution deals with a request for reassurances that resources in Mater Dei Hospital will be sustainably allocated to Barts Medical School without being of detriment to the University of Malta student body and the standard of education they receive.

“The Ministry of Health failed to make contact with MMSA with regards to the aforementioned resolution, even after multiple reminders. MMSA and KSU feel that the genuine concerns of the medical student body are not being taken seriously enough,” the student body said in a statement.

“Multiple assurances were given and broken, while there is an absolute lack of transparency and communication by the respective authorities,” they continued.

Barts Medical School students are set to start their clinical experience in Mater Dei Hospital on the 7th of October, yet the student bodies are yet to receive any reply.

“Barts Medical School’s administration has, through discussions with the relevant authorities, managed to get conditions pertaining to the use of Mater Dei Hospital that contradict assurances given to the medical students at UM,” they said.

The Medical School, MMSA says, are attempting to segregate their students from those at Malta’s university, hiving off consultants normally reserved for the state’s doctors in training.

“This would be of great detriment to the UM students, especially for clinical placements in certain specialities with limited human resources such as Neurology, Dermatology and Oncology where the number of consultants available is as little as 4.”

READ NEXT: VGH: Ministry Of Health Continues To Undermine Malta’s Commissioner For Health Over Failure To Provide Unredacted Agreement