In March 2025, Malta launched its first National Palliative Care Strategy 2025–2035, setting out a ten-year plan to develop a structured, integrated and person-centred palliative care service across the country. The strategy was preceded by a consultation in 2023 and draws on WHO and the European Association for Palliative Care definitions, stating that palliative care affirms life and regards dying as a normal process, and that it neither hastens nor postpones death. To this end, the strategy explicitly states that euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide fall outside its scope. The document highlights the need for a system that spans the continuum of care; from the home and community to long-term residential settings and acute hospitals, with an emphasis on strengthening multidisciplinary teamwork, governance structures, and sustainable financing. Priority areas for action include the development of a competence framework for health professionals, an expansion of education and training pathways, and the need to address workforce shortages across medical, nursing and allied health disciplines.
Despite these advances, the strategy identifies ongoing challenges, including the limited availability of specialist palliative services in Gozo, Malta’s sister island. It calls for improved coordination of services and the creation of a stronger governance framework to ensure equitable access nationwide.
Recent service developments complement the strategy’s ambitions. In January 2025, Hospice Malta inaugurated St Michael Hospice, the first dedicated palliative care complex in Malta. The premises were refurbished and restructured through government, corporate and EU funds. The facility enables Hospice Malta to expand existing community services, including day therapy and outpatient clinics, while also offering a 16-bedded inpatient palliative care unit that complements other services for a more comprehensive approach. St Michael Hospice also strengthens the organization’s educational wing, opening opportunities for collaboration and exchange with other hospices across Europe and beyond.
The strategy also highlights the important role of voluntary organizations in service delivery, particularly Hospice Malta as the main provider of community-based palliative care, but also other organizations offering specialized residential, respite, cancer support and psychosocial services.