Retiring to Malta

Hi
We live in Australia but originally from UK so have dual nationality. We would like to be closer to the UK but somewhere with a warm climate. We have read about Malta and are tempted but are trying to find out a lot more. Firstly would the fact that we lived and worked in the UK until age 37 give us health cover in Malta? Is it best to buy or rent a house? Would welcome any comments. We are thinking of coming for a visit in Sept/Oct and thinking about having some time on both Malta and Gozo.
John

Read this for starters and check out some of the links in it.  https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=370643