Talks between the health ministry and the Medical Association of Malta are ongoing and further progress has been made but “there are some tough nuts to crack,” MAM Secretary General Martin Balzan told The Malta Independent yesterday.

MAM and the government have been working on a way forward after the doctors’ union held a strike earlier this month over a dispute related to the Vitals/Steward transfer.

The two sides have been at loggerheads ever since Vitals Global Healthcare (VGH) announced that it would be selling its 30-year concession to American company Steward Healthcare after just 21 months of operations. That deal was signed on Tuesday.

MAM also insists that the government has breached the collective agreement, which was signed last May, because it was not informed or consulted six weeks prior to the transfer of the concession - a clause which Balzan says MAM had fought hard for after the Karin Grech, St Luke's and the Gozo hospitals were "sold behind [their] back."

In comments to this newsroom, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat had said that he has a different interpretation to the one described by the MAM.

The MAM had also argued that, since in their view the government broke its collective agreement by not informing the union, it is concerned that the government will ride roughshod over other agreements such as the promise not to privatise Mater Dei Hospital.

A number of meetings have been held since, with the last one taking place yesterday afternoon.

Speaking to The Malta Independent after the meeting, Balzan said MAM was not yet ready to sign the agreement, adding that lawyers from both sides were still working on the draft text and “ironing out the details.”

Balzan said further progress had been made, however, and another two meetings would be held on Wednesday and Thursday next week. He was cautiously optimistic when asked if he believed that an agreement could be reached by then.