Hi Charliegirl,

I spoke to someone some years ago that had to have some emergency treatment in a hospital in Malta and he was far from impressed. I understand that things are different now and last year they were well on the way to building a brand new hospital next to the University. I reckon that medical care is at least as good if not better than here now.

It was interesting that from what your doctor said, there is no MRSA in the hospitals in Malta! I have to say that I strongly disagree with him suggesting that you or indeed anyone else should go there with the intention of having an operation they should have here in the UK! I know Malta is now part of the EU where medical treatment should be universally available to all its people and it's good to know that if we had a medical emergency while on hols there that the hospitals in Malta would treat and look after us. However it's only a small Island with limited resources and it would be very unfair on their system if we Brits started going there simply to use their use their hospital and medical facilities - wouldn't it???

Trev

sorry to hear you were ill, Charliegirl.

My only experience of using hospitals in Malta are

1. had laser surgery on my eyes a year ago - it was privately done - very happy with the results
2. been to the medical clinic (govt run) in Victoria, Gozo a few times - never waited more than 10 mins to see a doctor, often in and out within 5 mins ! no complaints with the advice, although the doctors can be a bit surly (I guess they prefer to see their private patients !)
3. eye checkups at the public hospital in Gozo - outpatients only - very happy with service

Maltese doctors are normally trained in the UK, and as far as I know all doctors work in both the private and public sector - the doctor who did my eyes, when I had subsequent checkups, I saw him at the public hospital in Gozo, and so didn't get charged for the checkups

Trev - I believe that if an EU citizen (non-Maltese) comes to Malta for an op, the cost is passed back top the home country, and its very much in Maltas favour. This also works for treatment under E111 (or whatever its called now) - someone please correct me if I'm wrong !

Hi there I think that I may have been misunderstood. I wouldn't 'plan' to have an op done in Malta but in an emergency it seems good place to be. Going back a few years my daughter needed treatment in a Tunisian hospital NEVER AGAIN !!!!! The place was filthy, the doctors 'white' coat was covered in blood and he was smoking a ciggarette as he waited for my daughter to be carried in for treatment. People were lying on trolleys, some dripping blood onto the floor, it looked like a war zone!

My friend had a heart problem during July and had to be (rushed) by ambulance to hospital. The ambulance took 45 mins before it arrived to take him He was diagnosed as having an enlarged heart due to a leaking valve and informed that they could do the operation the following day.
He refused and requested to be flown back to the UK. Mainly because the hospital was so full he had to sleep and be treated on the hospital corridor, it was filthy, noisy and food was virtually non existant. That said though they did diagnose his ailment correctly and within three days
When he returned to England he had three months of tests just to confirm the same diagnosis that was made in Malta. He finally had an operation on December 29th and looks to be recovering fine.

Mmmmmmmmmmm!
Mainly because the hospital was so full he had to sleep and be treated on the hospital corridor, it was filthy, noisy and food was virtually non existant.
Maybe I will make sure that I am 100% fit before I go to Malta!

"Mainly because the hospital was so full he had to sleep and be treated on the hospital corridor, it was filthy, noisy and food was virtually non existant" - sounds like the NHS !

Hi Mark,

Ooo that was naughty - mind you I have to agree some areas of the NHS need to improve but my experience of having eye surgery in my local hospital recently was I have to say a good one and I doubt if I could have got better even if I'd gone private.

Charliegirl - I'm a bit concerned at what m&n have said about their friends experience of the hospital in Malta. I don't think I'll be rushing over to Malta for an op. but I'll repeat what I said earlier that it's nice to know you can get treatment should the need arise. Nevertheless I'd rather be in Malta than Tunisia if I needed medical help.

We've been to Tunisia in the past for our one and only holiday there. The lack of hygiene we witnessed made us cringe and I can well believe that the hospitals would be as you describe them. I doubt if we will ever find out because we have no intention of going back there, especially since like many of the tourists I developed the potentially lethal campylobacter food poisoning while I was there. I cured myself by taking the antibiotics I knew would do the trick, but I did feel sorry for other folks - what a nightmare!

Trev

I don't think there would be a problem with the medical expertise that anyone would receive but if anyone was unfortunate enough to require hospital treatment then I would advise that they or their relatives make enquiries as to the cost of booking a private room. Maybe the situation will improve once the new hospital is up and running but it is around two years behind schedule up to now Maltese builders eh!

Hi We had to use the services of 1/a local doctor in Mellieha excelent service at 6am in the morning (20LM). 2 An ambulance to St Lukes there within 15 mins and very good at there job with the doctor in attendance. Free.3./ ST Lukes hospital childrens ward for four days cannot say enough about the way we were treated even asked some probing questions which we were taken to see the hospital director and he answered all our questions . The reason we had to go to the hospital was on the first day . Our next door neighbours child who we took on hols with us slept walked off the third floor balcony and ended up (thankfully ) in the pool. Just very bad bruising and a few deep cuts Phew . Still go cold when i think of it . All in all a bad experiance but glad we were in Malta and had decent care Every one helped us from the night porter to car hire, the holiday rep gave us a 24 hr phone number (Chevron)5*. Cheers Dave

I don't have any direct experience with the hospitals in Malta myself, but when my husband was with his former partner they went on a family holiday and stayed at the Palm Court - one of the girls had an accident diving into the pool and cut her head open. I think I'm right in saying they were advised to take a taxi to the hospital as it was quicker, but when they got there hubby says the service was first class - not only for Nicola, but also for the whole family. She was put into a private room and stayed in hospital for a couple of nights. No complaints about the treatment she received at all. Personally I think he was most impressed by the fact that the hospital ordered a take-away pizza for them!