Can I request a specific doctor at a public hospital?

Within Malta's public healthcare system, patient choice of a specific individual practitioner is generally more limited than it might be in a private healthcare setting, since public hospital care is typically organised around departmental and rostering structures designed to ensure consistent coverage and appropriate specialisation matching for each patient's specific condition, meaning while reasonable requests are often considered where operationally feasible, there is generally no absolute, enforceable patient right to insist on a specific named doctor within the public system in the way there might be more flexibility in private practice. That said, it is entirely reasonable to communicate your preference clearly to the hospital's administration or the relevant department, particularly if you have a specific clinical reason connected to continuity of care given your treatment history, since genuine continuity of care considerations are something a hospital may reasonably try to accommodate where practically possible, even without a strict legal entitlement. If continuity with a specific doctor is genuinely important to you, particularly for an ongoing or complex condition, it may be worth exploring whether pursuing at least part of your care through the private healthcare sector, where doctor selection is typically more directly possible, would better suit your preferences, alongside continuing to raise your preference through the appropriate channels within the public system.