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maltatoday, SUNDAY, 13 DECEMBER 2015 11 News News WIN! With our caption competition 26 VIRTU FERRIES TICKETS TO BE WON! Take advantage of our 16th anniversary competition and win a ticket to Sicily by filling in the speech bubbles in the photograph. Fill in the form with your name and address, email and phone number. The competition closes on 17 December, and the best captions will be given one return ticket Malta–Pozzallo–Malta valid until the end of the year. Name _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Address _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Email _____________________________________ Telephone _________________________________________________________ YOUR SPEECH BUBBLES: _________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Send to: MaltaToday 16th Anniversary competition, Vjal ir-Rihan, San Gwann maltatoday said. "Tutors providing clinical teach- ing to Barts students will be remu- nerated at the same rate as tutors at the University of Malta. The University of Malta and Barts have agreed to set up an intercollegiate working group to collaborate on student placement to the benefit of both medical schools. "The University of Malta Medi- cal School and the Department of Health have agreed to enter into an agreement with respect to clin- ical training. The government will continue to provide resources for quality teaching for University of Malta medical students." A spokesperson for Queen Mary University of London also did not explain who will finance Barts's access to clinical resources at Mater Dei. "We have a contractual agree- ment with the government which takes into account the use of clini- cal resources. We understand that the government intends to remu- nerate clinical staff in line with University of Malta rates." QMUL says the ratio of medical students to consultant – a stick- ing point for those who say Mater Dei resources are already strained as they are – will depend on mod- ule and learning mode. "We will be working with Mater Dei senior management and the University of Malta in an equitable and col- laborative manner to ensure no students are disadvantaged." mvella@mediatoday.com.mt Vitals Global Healthcare is a wholly owned subsidiary of Bluestone Investments Malta which in turn is owned by Bluestone Special Situations 4 Limited, a private equity fund based in Singapore and managed by the Oxley Group. Oxley has a background in healthcare and aged care. Partners HealthCare International (PHI) is the academically- based global arm of Partners HealthCare, which was founded by Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women's Hospital, the two oldest and largest teaching hospitals of Harvard Medical School. PHI partners healthcare systems and health-related academic institutions in over 40 countries. Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, a faculty of Queen Mary University of London (QMUL), will develop a branch medical school in state-of-the-art clinical facilities that Vitals is planning to develop. PPP who's who 'Boring' councils make it hard to attract youth ambassadors As first batch of youth ambassadors turn 18, councils find it hard to find replacements MATTHEW VELLA FIFTEEN local councils out of Malta and Gozo's 68 have lost their youth ambassadors or are still searching for an elusive candidate. The initiative has been relatively successful, given that 53 councils appointed a youth ambassador who can sit in for the local council's meetings and join in the discussion without a vote. But several councils have report- ed they are finding it hard to either find a replacement for ambassadors who had turned 18, or to simply fill in the role. Sliema council, for example, told the Department of Local Govern- ment that nobody interested in the role has been found yet. "When we found a youth who was interested, he was about to turn 18 in a month. We are advertising the 'vacancy' in our magazine as well as on our Fa- cebook page." Councils in Swieqi, Ta' Xbiex, Pietà, Luqa, Kirkop, Ghajnsielem, Gudja, Birzebbuga, Balzan, and Bormla all lost their ambassadors upon turning 18. Dingli council, as well as Marsa and Naxxar have not yet found a candidate. "We often post the vacancy on Facebook in the hope of finding someone interested," the Naxxar council told the department of lo- cal government. But Andrew Azzopardi, a senior lecturer in youth and community studies at the University of Malta, says that unless councils make themselves relevant to youths, it will be hard for them to attract lo- cal ambassadors. "If youths don't feel they are really involved in council business, if they don't see they are truly part of what councils can do for youths… then they have no time to waste. They just won't be part of a committee for the sake of it," Azzopardi said. "I recently addressed a seminar for Vote 16 in Gudja, and around 60 youths attended. So it can't be that there aren't youths to take up this role. Surely there is one per- son in a town like Sliema who can do this job. But they might not be excited about the prospect… well that's what councils must respond to." Azzopardi said that councils should also enquire with Agenzija Zghazagh and the National Youth Council for help, and to find new ambassadors before incumbents turn 18. "Student groups like Pulse or SDM attract dozens to contest for elections… that's because there is something exciting for them to do when they are elected. But if local councils sound boring and just bu- reaucratic, with no say for youths, then there's no chance they will find youths interested in acting as local ambassadors." €100 million 'injection' Malta Enterprise has said that over 15 years, Barts will bring €100 million to Gozo through students' lodging needs, per diem spending, visiting relatives and the wages of non-academic staff such as cleaners, who are likely to be Gozo residents - an effect equivalent to a factory employing 500 people. As part of the Gozo Hospital 'health hub' along with St Luke's and Karen Grech, Barts will not be building the campus itself. That will be up to PHI and Vitals Gobal Healthcare who plan a €200 million overhaul of the hospitals. Health minister Konrad Mizzi believes medical tourism in Gozo could contribute around €13 million annually, excluding hospital fees. The joint contribution of the Barts campus and medical tourism in Gozo would be equivalent to a cash injection of approximately €20 million per annum. Barts charges each student €35,000 a year for its Malta degree, earning it up to €10 million when it reaches full complement of 300 students each year