CONSULTING A HEALTHCARE PROVIDER – STRUCTURE, FUNCTIONS AND RESPONSIBILITES
The Primary HealthCare is responsible for the delivery of over 50 primary care services in the community nationwide, mainly through (a) the 10 strategically located Health Centres, (b) the 54 Community Clinics (c) the National Screening Centre, (d) the Occupational Health Unit (e) the Telemedicine 24/7 Client Support Centre and (f) the three Centres of Excellence in Primary Eye Screening, Speech and Language Pathology and Podiatry. All services are free-of-charge and delivered by the Primary HealthCare’s multi-professional care team; consisting of medical doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, radiographers, podiatrists, speech and language pathologists, pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, health care assistants, social workers, phlebotomists, dieticians and nutritionists.
Keeping the entity running requires a substantial amount of organisational and administrative operations. Such responsibilities fall on a wide range of support and administrative staff taking care of multiple tasks ranging from cleaning to courier service, security, maintenance, procurement, ICT support, financial and accounts keeping, and the administrative upkeep of human resources in general.
The ten health centres provide the public with a broad-ranging types of primary care services including prevention, early intervention, treatment, and management. These services are augmented by the those offered by the Community Clinics, which services are part of the new model of patient-centric care at the community level. The Centre of Excellences, on the other hand, offer specialised primary care services in their respective field, whilst the National Screening Centre administers the breast, colorectal and cervical national screening programmes for the Maltese islands.
Information technology (IT) in health care enables information sharing across organizational, professional boundaries, and enhances patient care. The Telemedicine 24/7 Client Support Centre makes best use of IT to deliver care at a distance, either over the telephone or via teleconference. This service was made possible through the Primary HealthCare’s Electronic Patient Record (EPR) system, which has transformed the patients’ medical information into electronic records that are available in real-time to the health care professionals at point of care.
Indeed, the Primary HealthCare ensures that all citizens have access to a comprehensive primary health service, offering a seamless continuity of care on a personalised basis and helping the service users attain the best state of health with special emphasis on prevention rather than cure. This ultimately makes the Primary HealthCare the patients’ automatic choice for all primary health care needs.
To browse the Maltese
islands map to find Pharmacies, Health Centres and District Dispensaries, click
here
VIEWING DOCTOR'S / DENTIST'S REGISTRATION AND RESPECTIVE SPECIALITY
The Medical Council keeps, publishes and updates registers in respect of the Medical and Dental professions and also the Specialists Registers of the medical and dental professions, as may be prescribed. Thus, no person shall practice as, or hold out himself to be a specialist unless ones details are entered in the respective register and kept for the registration of specialists by the relevant Council.
To access the Medical's Council's various registers via which one may confirm a doctor's or a dentist's registration, hence, the licence to practise, click here. In the Medical Register one may also obtain the doctor's or dentist's specialisation by accessing the Specialist Register. Other information data may be obtained are the doctor's or dentist's name and surname, date of registration, degree via which the doctor or the dentist has been granted the registration and the specialist listing, amongst others. This facility is
available to both Maltese Nationals and foreigners.
The License requirement is an automatic process as procedure wise a doctor and a dentist are granted automatically the license to practise after being granted registration.
OBTAINING A EUROPEAN HEALTH INSURANCE CARD (EHIC)
International travelling has become cheaper and more widespread than ever before. In this respect, it's easy to forget the health risks that may be involved. Malta offers free access to medical facilities to all EU citizens on presentation of a valid European Health Insurance Card (EHIC). Here one can find information about the use of the European Health Insurance Card, the EU citizens' passport to free or reduced-cost emergency care in most other European countries and European Economic Area.
Persons issued with a European Health Insurance Card will be eligible to free or reduced-cost for emergency medical treatment during temporary visits in EEA countries and Switzerland.
The purpose of the EHIC is to facilitate access to medical care during the holder's temporary stay in another Member State, and to speed up reimbursement of the costs incurred. The EHIC is issued free to all insured persons. A separate application form is needed for each person, with the exception of children under 16. The application for the EHIC is processed within five (5) working days.
Click here to apply online for an EHIC. The approximate time to fill in the online form should take approximately five (5) minutes. On submission, the applicant shall receive a system generated acknowledgement email. Upon completion of the vetting process, which usually takes approximately one (1) working day to complete, the applicant will be informed that that details have been registered in the system and that the card shall be sent by post on the address specified during the filling in of the form. The Health Entitlement Unit has an internal benchmark of five (5) working days between the date of receipt of the application and the date by when the EHIC card is posted to the intended recipient.
CROSS BORDER HEALTHCARE
The EU Directive on Cross Border Health Care came into force on the 25th October 2013. The main aim of this Directive is to clarify the rules on access to safe and good quality treatment across EU member states. For further information about the directive as well as when you should consider cross-border health care, the healthcare service that require a prior authorisation from the Department of Health and frequently asked question, click here.
MEDICAL TREATMENTS
RESCHEDULING APPOINTMENTS DONE AT THE HOSPITAL
A new service have been introduced whereby a Maltese National or a foreigner having an appointment with a medical doctor, after being referred to Mater Dei by a generic practitioner, can reschedule their appointment at the hospital should he /she is not available at the date and / or time specified. This will reduce the need to try and contact different units within hospital and one can submit form at any time of day.
Click here to reschedule your appointment online. The approximate time to fill in the online form shall take approximately five (5) minutes. On submission, the applicant shall receive a system generated acknowledgement email. The request is registered and the Booking Office takes approximately three (3) working days to reschedule the appointment. Once a new date and time has been set and email is sent automatically to the patient to inform him/her about the new appointment. The details of the new appointment are also sent by post on the address specified during the filling in of the request. The Booking Office has an internal benchmark of fourteen (14) working days between the date of receipt of the application and the date by when the appointment is rescheduled and the letter with the new appointment is posted to the intended recipient.
The personal data used to reschedule the appointment are ID Card / Residency Permit / Hospital Number, Name and Surname, Email Address, Appointment Reference Number, Current Appointment Date and Time, Current Clinic, Appointment Type, Postponement Reason,. The following documents are required to be attached: Current Appointment Letter, Proof of Identity, and Ticket of Referral (if it is a new case).
APPLYING FOR E-CONSULATATIONS WITH A PRIMARY HEALTHCARE DOCTOR
Electronic Consultations allow Maltese Nationals and Foreigners to book an appointment for an online consultation with a general practitioner from the comfort of their home/office. These consultations eliminate the need to visit the practice in one of the Primary HealthCare facilities. Such consultations are only possible if the patient does not need a face-to-face consultation or examination. Teleconsultations with a GP can be held for a whole range of reasons. These include – requests for or interpretation of blood tests or simple radiographs (X-rays) as well as to discuss other health issues which might be of concern.
Electronic consultations are not meant to be utilised for emergency situations. If it is a life-threatening situation, one should phone the emergency number 112. In case of urgent (not emergency) health issues, one can phone 21 231 231 or 21 222 444 to contact the Primary HealthCare or visit the Health Centre that caters for your locality.
Click here to apply online for an electronic consultation. The approximate time to fill in the online form should take less than five (5) minutes. Applicants needs to know their Identity Card (ID card) number, mobile number and email address. This data is required ascertain your identity and to receive the acknowledgement and appointment. On submission, the applicant will receive a system-generated acknowledgement email showing the date and time it was sent, together with a unique reference number that can be used to follow the request. The request is then registered, and the Booking Office takes a maximum of three (3) working days to send you a reply to your request. Once a date and time has been set, an email will be sent to the applicant with information about the new appointment together with the details on how the online consultation will be carried out.
OBTAINING AN E-PRESCRIPTION FROM A HOSPITAL DOCTOR
Maltese national patients are entitled to free medicinal treatment by virtue of the Social Security Act CAP 318 Article 23 and the amendment of this act - Act No. I of 2012 and the Fifth Schedule to the same Act. The list of conditions that are covered by the Fifth Schedule covers a total of 83. Any patient suffering from a chronic condition which is listed under the second part of the Fifth Schedule of the Social Security Act is entitled to free medication for that specific disease and entitlement is based solely upon the presence of disease irrespective of means, income or age.
For further information about the process to become entitled, click here.
The Pharmacy of your Choice (POYC) National Scheme
The Pharmacy of Your Choice scheme is a national pharmaceutical service committed to excellence in granting of entitlement to free medical products and all related services meeting the needs of more than 150,000 outpatients who benefit from the Governement's free pharmaceutical service under the legislation of Schedule V and Schedule II.
The ePrescription system is a web-based interface aimed to eliminate paper-based prescriptions and facilitate the issuing of prescriptions for free medical products including narcotic and psychotropic drugs in line with the patient's entitlement. This system ensures that a record of patient's prescriptions is readily available for both the patient's family doctor and also for clinicians providing care in a health care institution setting. This ensures improved and more integrated patient care. From a dispensing prescription this facilitates accurate dispensing through the availability of legible prescriptions with information on the prescribing physician. The patient's supply at pharmacy level is dispensed against the active entitlement and the prescription issued by the caring physician.
The ePrescription system includes the following information: Patient's Details (Name & Surname, Address, ID Card Number, Age, Date of Birth) retrieved directly through the Corporate Data Registry (CDR); the Prescribed Item (Item, Regimen, Directions For Use, Duration); the Doctor's Details (Medical Council Registration No., Signature, Date, Name & Surname, Notes).
All physicians registered with the Medical Council Register are eligible to use the online ePrescription system through the following link https://poyc.hss.gov.mt/poyc/onlineprescription/. Clinicians can authenticate either via eID or via a personal CORP account.
Physicians may also access the ePrescription website through MyHealth portal. Patients also have the facility to view their latest prescriptions issued, past dispenses and current active entitlement through the MyHealth portal.
The form takes approximately ten (10) to fifteen (15) minutes to complete, depending on the number of medicine on the patient's entitlement. Once the request is submitted, the attainment of the ePrescription is instantaneous. The prescription can also be sent by email to the patient.
Such request is carried out whenever a patient requires a need. A patient does not need to wait a time window within which the Health Department will send the prescription, since the transmission of the ePrescription to the patient is done immediately following submission.
ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORDS
myHealth is an interactive website allowing Maltese citizens and residents to view a selection of their electronic health records. Users who have a Maltese e-ID can log in with their ID number (or residence permit number) and e-ID password to view their case summaries; upcoming appointments; details of past episodes; Pharmacy of your Choice (POYC) scheme entitlement, prescriptions and dispensing records; vaccination records; and laboratory results and medical imaging reports. All the data that is provided by healthcare providers to the myHealth portal is made available to patients immediately, except for lab results and image reports, which need to be released by a doctor linked with the patient; if any data is still unreleased after 15 days, it is released automatically by the system.
Patients can link with doctors to give the doctors access to their myHealth data. An online form allows a patient to send their family doctor a link request in a matter of a few seconds. Doctors linked with patients can see results and reports the day after they are released by hospital. Doctors have facilities for sorting, filtering and comparing a patient's data. Both patients and doctors can set up email and SMS notifications in the system.
Useful documents related to the myHealth portal, such as user guides for patients and doctors, and an offline form for patients to give a doctor access to their myHealth data, may be obtained by clicking here. When the myHealth team receives a completed request by email for the creation of a doctor-patient link, it services it as soon as possible and within two working days at the latest.
Users who wish to contact the myHealth team for support or to give feedback about the myHealth portal may fill this form or send an email to myhealth@gov.mt.
If patients need a copy of hospital records or medical images which are not available through the myHealth portal, they may send a request to the Medical Records Department at Mater Dei Hospital through customercare.mdh@gov.mt.
Support, Help and Giving Feedback
Customer satisfaction is key to quality and performance and so your feedback is highly encouraged to act on the suggestions received. Whether you are a Maltese or a non-Maltese National and would like any further assistance, provide feedback, submit a complaint, or give your opinion on health related services, you may get in touch by using the contact details provided on the right or fill in the form provided. For full list of contact details, click here.
Alternatively, you may also click here to fill form to request further information or click here to submit a complaint.
Malta Public Health has also embraced social media, with a view to keep the public aware and informed. This Facebook page is a page officially endorsed by the Ministry for Health. Should you require any further assistance or would like to share your experience on the services provided by health one may do so by using the Facebook chat send message facility and a representative will be happy to assist you instantly via a live messenger chat.
