An integrated approach to the management of health care in Malta

Abstract

A successful health care programme depends directly on the team work of a group of people who care about and who care for patients in the management of their sickness with the aim of allaying the symptoms in all' cases and of a complete cure whenever possible. This team is made up of general practitioners, hospital medical officers, consultants, pharmacists, dentists, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists, nurses and social workers. According to the front cover of the Pharmaceutical Journal of September 18th, 1982, in the 16th Century the physician and pharmacist worked closely together, but today we rarely see them depicted together. This might be so in other countries, but I am pleased to say, it is not the case in Malta. The pharmacist is an important member of the team looking after the sick. His place as a prominent member of this team has been enhanced by a working programme planned between the Department of Medicine and the Department of Pharmacy of our University under the auspices of the Ministry of Health. This working programme will be discussed later in this paper; at this stage I am going to dwell on the situation in Malta vis-a-vis the traditional relationship between the pharmacist and the physician.