Oncology chief resigned on ‘own accord’ – Health Department

The Health Department has said that Oncology Department chief Dr Stephen Brincat resigned on "his own accord" and was not coerced or pressured to resign at any time.

Mater Dei Hospital's oncology department chief resigned after claiming government had repeatedly ignored his advice on various important issues.

The Health Department stated that it was duty-bound to inform the public of the facts that surrounded Brincat's resignation. The statement read: "Dr Brincat resigned on his own accord, and was not coerced or pressured to resign. His resignation came after a series of issues in which Dr Brincat had a different point of view to the Department of Health."

Dr Brincat said rectnly he was ordered to provide chemotherapy services in Gozo.

In reply to Brincat's claims, the Health Department said that "the oncology department has never been in favour of this as it would have meant offering a poorer quality service in Gozo due to a lack of trained and experienced staff.

"Most recently, Dr Brincat had made his views known regarding the provision of chemotherapy services in Gozo. Dr Brincat has strongly opposed attempts to introduce chemotherapy services in Gozo over the past months, on the premise that Gozitan medical and nursing staff do not have the required expertise. However, the same Oncology Department never came forward with a plan to train and supervise such staff."

The statement further stated that "it was a pity that the Department had to resort to overriding Dr Brincat on this issue which is all about better access and quality of life for Gozitan patients.

"Whilst other specialisations have strong specialist training programmes in place, the Department of Oncology has not yet managed to develop a robust training programme which is key to recruitment and retention of medical specialist staff. Indeed, the post for training coordinator in this specialisation was not even filled as nobody applied.

Regarding the oncology centre's future plans, the Health Department said that "in line with the plans for the new Oncology Centre, there is going to be a consolidation of certain clinical services which have common features and share common practices.  Hence it was decided to have oncology (solid cancers) and haematology (blood cancers) within the same department and in the same location".

Dr Brincat also claimed that the National Cancer Plan was kept a secret from the professionals that were meant to execute it until the day it was published.

The  Department of Health strongly denied that the National Cancer Plan was not discussed with its professionals.  On the contrary, the plan was drawn up after an extensive consultation process with all stakeholders which took place over several months and was duly documented. 

Furthermore, "Dr Brincat had also some months ago resigned from the national committee steering the implementation of the cancer plan because of his reservations on the change in the role description for the new clinical chair position in the new cancer centre."

While the Health Department acknowledged the clinical contribution that Dr Brincat has given to hundreds of patients over the years, the department felt it had to continue in its mission of establishing policy and implementing strategy in the sole interest of patients.