Updated | Hospital chief unchanged, PL candidate acting as ‘rapporteur’

Updated at 10:25am

Health minister Godfrey Farrugia found himself at pain to deny forthcoming management changes at Mount Carmel mental health hospital, where the jury is still out on whether current chief executive Dolores Gauci will be staying on.

Earlier this week, the ministry's spokesperson appeared to rule out any changes in management, declaring that the current chief executive was Dolores Gauci.

But in a visit to the hospital today [Thursday], Farrugia said that "studies were still underway" when asked about the prospective appointment of a Labour candidate to the position of CEO.

"There is a lot of speculation going on and I'm sorry to see that everyone sees the negative aspects. We are currently undergoing a three-year work programme to implement the mental health act, and we're only ending up with this ping-pong," Farrugia said.

The  Nationalist Party press has claimed that former Msida mayor Clifton Grima was earmarked for a €65,000 position as hospital CEO, replacing Richmond Foundation founder Dolores Gauci. Gauci is currently head of mental health services, whose remit includes the management of Mount Carmel.

Sources close to the 29-year-old lawyer, a Labour candidate in the last general elections, also confirmed to MaltaToday that Grima had already been "interviewed" by health ministry and Mount Carmel hospital staff on his knowledge of the Mental Health Services Act.

On its part, the health ministry confirmed that Grima was acting as an unpaid "rapporteur" during meetings on a review of mental health laws.

MaltaToday originally asked the ministry to confirm whether calls for applications for the post of CEO of Mount Carmel had indeed been issued.

In a related comment, Opposition spokesperson for health Claudio Grech described the role of Mount Carmel Hospital CEO as "crucial and pivotal for the execution of government efforts in the challenging mental health arena."

"As things stand today there is no clear communication on who will be doing what in the top management of Mount Carmel Hospital. These rumours are causing unnecessary uncertainty and lack of confidence in the hospital's management which may unfortunately impact the level of care provided to the patients," Grech said, echoing similar statements by mental healthcare workers and NGO officials who spoke to MaltaToday.

Grech described Dolores Gauci, who has over 20 years' experience in the mental healthcare field, as a highly-specialised professional who is well respected and who was originally selected from a public call for applications.

"The reports circulating in the media indicate that the government is seriously considering removing a highly specialised professional and replacing her with someone who has no experience whatsoever in the field and is purely a political appointee for partisan considerations," Grech said.

"We strongly appeal to government to reconsider its intention to sideline a leading mental health professional simply for political purposes. The decisions in the healthcare field should be driven by the patients' best interests and not political expediencies."

On its part, the health ministry said that in the past weeks it has been busy evaluating the Mental Health Act.

"Nothing has been finalised yet. It is believed that mental health problems are the second (19%) most likely problem to burden health services and lead to disability in the European region. So called 'common' problems like depression and anxiety are affecting one in every four persons of every age. And yet on a European level, it is believed that 50% of people with mental health problems do not seek help.

"Such problems can have serious consequences. When there is a lack of care in this sector, the consequences can lead to poverty and solitude, amongst other factors.