The Association of Private Family Doctors (APFD), commenting on remarks by the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition on a claim by the latter that the government intends to introduce charges for health care, confirmed that a task group was considering a system of registering patients.

Labour leader Joseph Muscat has said that everyone in Malta would have to register with a private doctor, against charges, and no one, except in an emergency, would be allowed into hospital if not referred there by the doctor.

The APFD, said that as the association representing family doctors working wholly within the private sector, it is not aware of any talks on the matter even though the parliamentary secretary for health promised consultations.

But, it added, one of APFD’s members was on the task group on patient registration “but was bound by confidentiality”.

“Moreover the members of the task group were never shown, and could therefore never have endorsed, the final document presented to Cabinet. The APFD sent a memo to the minister on 18 May listing the suggestions the APFD had sent to the task group last October. This remained unanswered.”

The APFD said it does not wish to be manipulated by the politicians, losing the trust of both patients as well as its members in the process. “Family doctors believe that using health as a political football is not in the best interests of the patients,” it said.