Mediation attempts to resolve doctors’ dispute

The stand off between public service doctors and government had no reprieve yesterday but according to an official spokesman at the Ministry of Social Policy mediation attempts are going on behind the scenes by third parties.

For the second day running, almost 700 patients utilising the outpatients’ clinics at St Luke’s Hospital were left stranded and the situation is expected to remain the same today.

The ministry spokesman said that no contacts were made yesterday between the Medical Association and Dr Lawrence Gonzi, who is handling the dispute on the government’s side.

A health department spokesman told this newspaper that all urgent cases were being treated as promised by MAM. The spokesman added that a telephone line is operational for patients wanting to verify whether their medical case is an urgent one or not. The telephone number is 21226898.