Malta : industrial relations in the health care sector

Abstract

Malta’s health care sector faces challenges arising from the escalating demands of an ageing population, the increase of chronic diseases, the encouragement of the preventive approach, long waiting lists, the rising costs of emerging treatment modalities, and insufficient staff. Apart from the issue of funding, the bureaucratic systems that typify the public services and the occasional lack of cooperation among the different levels of the health-care staff are crucial obstacles in the progress of this field. Over the past five years, through collective bargaining and social dialogue, the government and the social partners showed their commitment to the search for new pathways that provide effective human resources development, complimented with the application of new and cost-effective technologies and initiatives, at times based on public-private partnerships.