Skip to main content

Case Details

main case
Case

The Stumbling Nurse of the Mediterranean: Malta’s Healthcare System at the Crossroads

This case looks at the challenge the Maltese Ministry for Health faced. The public healthcare system of Malta was modeled after the British NHS and provided a comprehensive package of medical services. Healthcare was free at the point of delivery for all Maltese citizens. Operating in parallel was the Maltese private sector, which accounted for a third of total health expenditures and provided most primary care.

Healthcare was undergoing a paradigm shift from a focus on disease to a focus on systems. Governments were, therefore, increasingly scrutinizing returns on healthcare expenditures and pushing health actors to reorganize inefficient and badly functioning public systems. Malta was no exception. Its healthcare system was at a crossroads. The country had two seemingly different healthcare value chains operting in parallel, an increased reliance on private care, an overburdened public care system, and a population with chronic health issues and a history of taking advantage of the system. 

Year of Publication: 2018
Ref. No.: 18/607C
Discipline: Public Policy and Strategy, Strategy & General Management
Industry: Energy, Health Care Equipment & Services
Country/Region: Malta
Company: Maltese Ministry of Health
Languages: English
Pages of Text: 14

Learning Objective:

The case will:

1. Provide students with a basic understanding of value chain analysis and strategy frameworks.
2. Allow students to explore models of collaboration between public and private sectors.
3. Allow students to experience the opportunities and challenges associated with management consulting, particularly as they relate to healthcare economies, with the objective to develop a national strategy for maximum healthcare provision under economic and political constraints.

per copy