Search
Search

Health Systems and Policy Monitor (HSPM)

An innovative platform that provides a detailed description of health systems and provides up-to-date information on reforms and changes that are particularly policy relevant.
For detailed information on country policy responses to the COVID-19 pandemic during 2020-2021, see our separate COVID-19 Health Systems Response Monitor (HSRM).

obs-logo

Malta

Health Systems in Transition (HiT) profile

Menu

  1. Country Overview

  2. Health Systems in Transition (HiT) profile

    1. 1. Introduction

      Updated: 20 June 2025
      1. 1.0. Introduction
      2. 1.1. Geography and sociodemography
      3. 1.2. Economic context
      4. 1.3. Political context
      5. 1.4. Health status

        Updated: 20 June 2025
    2. 2. Organization and governance

      Updated: 02 October 2024
      1. 2.0. Introduction
      2. 2.1. Overview of the health system
      3. 2.2. Historical background
      4. 2.3. Organization

        Updated: 22 March 2024
      5. 2.4. Decentralization and centralization
      6. 2.5. Planning

        Updated: 02 October 2024
      7. 2.6. Intersectorality
      8. 2.7. Health information management
      9. 2.8. Regulation
      10. 2.9. Patient empowerment
    3. 3. Financing
      1. 3.0. Introduction
      2. 3.1. Health expenditure
      3. 3.2. Sources of revenue and financial flows
      4. 3.3. Overview of the statutory financing system
      5. 3.4. Out of pocket payments
      6. 3.5. Voluntary health insurance
      7. 3.6. Other financing
      8. 3.7. Payment mechanisms
    4. 4. Physical and human resources
      1. 4.0. Introduction
      2. 4.1. Physical resources
      3. 4.2. Human resources
    5. 5. Provision of services

      Updated: 20 June 2025
      1. 5.0. Introduction
      2. 5.1. Public health

        Updated: 01 January 2019
      3. 5.2. Patient pathways
      4. 5.3. Primary / ambulatory care

        Updated: 31 January 2024
      5. 5.4. Specialized ambulatory care / inpatient care
      6. 5.5. Emergency care

        Updated: 10 September 2024
      7. 5.6. Pharmaceutical care
      8. 5.7. Rehabilitation / intermediate care
      9. 5.8. Long term care

        Updated: 20 June 2025
      10. 5.9. Services for informal carers
      11. 5.10. Palliative care
      12. 5.11. Mental health care
      13. 5.12. Dental care
      14. 5.13. Complementary and alternative medicine
      15. 5.14. Health services for specific populations
    6. 6. Principal health reforms

      Updated: 24 March 2024
      1. 6.0. Introduction
      2. 6.1. Analysis of recent reforms
      3. 6.2. Future developments

        Updated: 24 March 2024
    7. 7. Assessment of the health system

      Updated: 18 February 2019
      1. 7.0. Introduction
      2. 7.1. Stated objectives of the health system
      3. 7.2. Financial protection and equity in financing
      4. 7.3. User experience and equity of access to health care

        Updated: 18 February 2019
      5. 7.4. Health outcomes, health service outcomes and quality of care
      6. 7.5. Health system efficiency
      7. 7.6. Transparency and accountability
    8. 8. Conclusions
      1. 8.0. Introduction

5.8. Long term care

Long-term care for older people is provided by the state, the Church and the private sector. The ‘Elderly Care Department’ was set up in 1987 and, apart from managing the state homes for older people, it also offers a number of services to support older people within the community, such as home care help, telecare, meals on wheels, handyman services and incontinence services. The Department also manages 18 day-care centres within the community. Older residents living in state homes contribute 60% of their total income (this includes the pension from the Social Services Department, bonuses, foreign pensions, bank interest, rents, etc.). Residents at St Vincent De Paul contribute 80% of their income, provided that they are not left with less than €1400 per year at their disposal (The Parliamentary Secretariat for Rights of Persons with Disability and Active Ageing, 2016).

The largest care home for older people is a public institution, St Vincent De Paul, which has 1149 beds. This is the only geriatric facility which has 24/7 medical care on site. It has units with different dependency levels ranging from 24-hour nursing and medical attention to quasi-independent bedsits. It is staffed by nurses, doctors and paramedics, a good proportion of whom are trained in geriatric care. Admittance is open to persons aged 60 and over, and an Admissions Board prioritizes admission for those who most need care. The demand for long-term institutional care has increased as a result of the ageing population as well as the reduction in size of extended families, which otherwise serve as the primary support network. In addition, the proportion of working women has risen steeply over the past decade, particularly among those under 40, who would have otherwise provided care to family members (Abela, 2012). The public sector has attempted to find solutions to this challenge by involving the private sector and setting up contracts with private care homes for the provision of long-term care beds. Apart from such contractual arrangements, the provision of long-term care in private institutions operates independently from the public sector.

Since 2014 the ‘Parliamentary Secretariat for Care of the Elderly’ has started a process to implement 39 Minimum Care Standards for Older People’s Homes. It was envisaged that in the second half of 2016 a bill would be passed to enforce such standards and set up a national authority tasked with maintaining these standards. Home care is still in its infancy. The short distance to A&E is believed to dissuade people from staying in their own homes when unwell so there is no natural demand for home care. This is a gap in the health system which needs to be addressed and is particularly evident in relation to the relatively high admission rates for congestive heart failure and COPD when compared with other EU countries.

On 12 June 2025, a new initiative was launched focusing on supporting active ageing in Malta through the development of a comprehensive legal framework for long-term care for older people. This initiative is being funded by the European Commission’s Technical Support Instrument, with the technical guidance of the WHO Regional Office for Europe. 

The aim for the project is to:

  1. Build a strong evidence base for long term care policy and reform
  2. Co-develop, through a multi-stakeholder participatory approach, a comprehensive legal framework on LTC for older people in Malta
  3. Strengthen capacity for monitoring and implementation

This project brings together a collaborative effort between key national and international stakeholders and underlines Malta’s commitment to innovation and investment in healthy and dignified ageing.

Authors
Related Content
References

https://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2025-06-16/local-news/National-project-for-development-of-long-term-care-legal-framework-launched-6736270939

https://tvmnews.mt/en/news/malta-advances-sustainable-and-inclusive-long-term-care-system

In February 2024, the new Minister for Health in Malta, Jo Etienne Abela, launched a seven-year National Dementia strategy to improve the quality of and access to dementia services in the country. The aim is to strengthen the quality of life for those with dementia (and their loved ones) by increasing awareness and understanding of the condition; educating health workers on ways to detect and diagnose symptoms early; and helping those with the condition access high-quality care services and safe and supportive dementia-inclusive communities from diagnosis to the end of life. The strategy also contains a preventative element and aims to increase awareness of the modifiable risks and protective factors for dementia so that people take precautionary efforts to reduce their risks of developing the condition. This comes as dementia is increasingly impacting the Maltese population; Malta recorded the highest number of deaths caused by dementia in the EU in 2020 (above 80 deaths per 100 000 population), and estimates suggest that by 2050, 3% of the population will be living with the condition.
Authors
Related Content
References

https://aacc.gov.mt/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Final-Version-Dementia-Strategy-06-Feb-2024-1.pdf

https://timesofmalta.com/article/people-dementia-malta-expected-double-2050.1085068

https://timesofmalta.com/article/editorial-a-dementia-strategy-malta.1085359

https://timesofmalta.com/article/malta-leads-europe-deaths-caused-dementia.1060566

Subscribe to our newsletter

Sign Up