Malta trims 1400 referrals to private hospitals, keeps outsourcing
- Malta is reducing direct referrals of 1400 helpline callers to private hospitals.
- Mater Dei Hospital will keep outsourcing services to private hospitals.
- The 1400 service has assisted more than 59,418 people since July 2025.
- Patients without a serious emergency may wait around six hours at Mater Dei’s Emergency Department.
VALLETTA, MALTA — Malta will send fewer callers to its 1400 health helpline straight to private hospitals for treatment, steering more of them to health centers closer to where they live.
The government will keep outsourcing services from Mater Dei Hospital to private hospitals.
Fewer direct referrals
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Health Ian Borg announced the changes on Oct. 24, according to TVM News.
The practice of directing 1400 callers straight to private hospitals is being reduced following consideration of patients’ experiences and suggestions over recent years, the government said.
The aim is to let patients receive care more conveniently at health centers closer to their communities.
The change is one of seven initiatives the Ministry for Health set out to strengthen the 1400 service and community care.
Outsourcing to private hospitals continues
At the same time, the government said it is continuing to strengthen collaboration with private healthcare providers by outsourcing services from Mater Dei Hospital to private hospitals.
Patients who receive initial treatment at Mater Dei’s Emergency Department may still be referred to private hospitals for surgery or other treatment, under procedures set out in the existing contract for the 1400 service.
It is also working to increase collaboration with the private sector, including through the use of operating theatres.
A helpline averaging 124 callers a day
The 1400 service has assisted more than 59,418 people since July 2025, an average of 124 a day.
Callers speak to doctors and nurses who advise whether they need emergency treatment at Mater Dei or can be seen closer to home, and more quickly, at Primary HealthCare centers.
At Mater Dei’s Emergency Department, patients are assessed within around 15 minutes. Those without a serious emergency may wait an average of around six hours.
A new digital system will give 1400 callers real-time information on waiting times at health centers.
Family doctors and doctors at health centers can also now order more types of blood tests and ultrasound scans where clinically indicated.
What it means for health systems
Malta is narrowing what it sends to private hospitals rather than ending the arrangement. Direct referrals from the helpline shrink, while referrals for surgery and other treatment after Mater Dei’s emergency department continue.
Public health systems weighing healthcare outsourcing can draw the same line between work the private sector takes on and work that returns in-house. OA’s ultimate guide to outsourcing covers how to structure those outsourcing arrangements.
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