The Medical Association of Malta on Monday postponed its industrial directives after a meeting with Health Minister Jo Etienne Abela and his Permanent Secretary Joseph Chetcuti.

In a statement on Monday evening, the MAM said that the directive had been postponed to “next Friday.”

“MAM is awaiting a draft text from the government and needs to iron out some details and will only be able to cancel the directives at that point,” MAM President Martin Balzan said in a statement to the press.

“MAM looks forward to the next meeting so that an agreement satisfactory to both sides can be reached,” he said.

Earlier in the day, Health Minister Jo Etienne Abela said that there was more agreement than disagreement with the union, and appealed for common sense and responsibility to triumph, as beds in Mater Dei were filling up again.

“The agreement we have with the private sector is for the benefit of the sick… The solution is there,” he commented. “I humbly ask everyone concerned that we do not waste any more time in this crucial period.”

Last Thursday, the MAM council unanimously approved directives to doctors working in primary healthcare calling for only the Paola, Mosta, and Floriana centres to open for 24 hours on Friday 24th January and Tuesday 28th January.

The union had registered a trade dispute over the transfer of patients to private hospitals, saying that it was not consulted as per collective agreement.

On Friday, MAM said that all doctors are obeying the directives at the health centres, and continued that it was surprised to hear of another irregular public-private partnership with the excuse of the directives.

In its own statement on Friday, the government said that while it respects a union’s right to industrial action, it must take action to make up for the impact that the union’s directives will have on the services offered. The government had set up temporary health services as a result of the directives coming into effect.

Now it appears that a more permanent solution might be within reach.