Cystic Fibrosis in Malta

Hi Lee,

there will be around 1 to 2 new cases per year in Malta so the experience is certainly limited as CF is treated in centres in the UK or Germany that cope with hundreds of cases.

I presume your daughter is in regular treatment anyway so the question is probably more on emergency treatment as she should certainly try to time her visit between treatment courses.

Depending on specific treatments (antibiotics) there might be a problem with availability but if she is on fairly standard drugs it should be ok.

If you have more specific questions please sends me a PM.

Regards
Ricky

Thanks very much Ricky for your post. I've just been perusing your blog which is great (ps hope you get the dog barking sorted). Much appreciated.

My daughter is liaising with her team at St James (Leeds), UK and I have a niece who is a doctor who came out to work in one of the hospitals in Malta for 6 months; so together we're beginning to gathering some info for her.

In terms of healthcare, is there any equivalent to our UK NHS system or are medicines and hospital treatments paid for? If you or any others know of a good website I can visit that would be of help. I have emailed one of the hospitals over there but so far had no response.

The Maltese health system is similar to the UK system , that is it is free to people in the system.

For a visit you should make sure that your daughter has the EHIC (European Health Insurance Card) for emergency treatment. Check out the NHS website for more details on visiting foreign countries.It entitles your daughter to the same level of treatment as the Maltese system provides to its members free of charge and includes pre-existing illnesses.

http://www.nhs.uk/NHSEngland/Healthcare … broad.aspx

If your daughter intends to stay longer (ie more than 3 months)she will need alternate health care coverage.

Dr.Ian M Balfour-Lynn from the Royal Brompton Hospital is a Pediatric Resp Consultant and Visiting Consultant at Mater Dei Hospital here in Malta.Google him for contact information. He should be able to provide you with specific information.

Medicines are paid for if they are available through the Maltese health care system and not all drugs are available all the time ( not on the list ,out-of-stock and so on).If you give me names I can try and find out.

Regard
Ricky

PS We and our neighbours solved our dog problem but we did have to take the neighbour to court.Now the problem dog is being kept quiet and inside. We hope it stays that way.

And be prepared for lots and lots of waiting around, confusion and frustration whilst dealing with the Malta Healthcare system esp. Mater Dei. Even though you may be entitled to free healthcare, everyone assumes you will pay the private rates (which generally are not particularly expensive) in order to jump queues (if you can afford to). My wife has a chronic health condition for which she gets free treatment but it still results in a lot of interesting stories, rolling of eyes and "Only In Malta" situations...but it does (mostly) work if you are patient and can figure out what to do, when and how despite the paucity of information and the changing of procedures.

Tim

Thanks Rick and Tim. Your replies are very much appreciated. I'll send an invite to my daughter to read the content.

She'll likely combine the advice contained herin with that of her team at St James' Hospital in Leeds, UK and, her cousin who is a doctor who spent 12 months at one of the hospitals in Malta.