Farrugia resignation: what they said

Claudio Grech - Shadow health minister

Despite being billed as normal, this reshuffle is anything but. To have the resignation of a key minister announced on Facebook rather than through an official government statement is not normal, especially when it had been submitted hours earlier. Even more abnormal is the fact that the resignation of a parliamentary secretary was concealed for weeks without it being made public.

Firstly, the health minister was deprived of the responsibility for tertiary care, which is fundamental in addressing the sector’s key challenges, the demographic trends and the country’s ageing population.

Secondly, government faced the high expectations it created through its populist promises prior to the election. It’s evident that not only government had no roadmap, but it did not have a clue how it should address the real challenges the country is facing in the sector.

Promising miracles in a matter of a few weeks in addressing the waiting lists, out of stock medicines and patients in corridors, quickly turned into a biting reality which showed that the promises not only were unfeasible but hard to implement. Sporadic and incoherent measures became the order of the day.

The biggest source of uncertainty came in the failure to rebuff constant rumours that Farrugia would be removed, which in turn eroded the minister’s credibility and authority.

After all, politicians are humans not robots.

As I have been repeating for months, the health sector must be kept above partisan politics.

It’s ironic that the parliamentary committee on health’s first meeting was held on Wednesday, in which the foundations of consensus were laid. Hopefully, the changes we’ll witness in the next few hours do not put to waste the efforts made in the last few months.

Martin Balzan - Medical Association of Malta

We’re prepared to work with anyone, whoever the minister is. As we have always done, we are open to dialogue and we’ll cooperate to ensure that the sector’s enormous problems are addressed.

The health sector is afflicted with huge infrastructural problems and I can assure you that there are no easy solutions.

This requires a long-term strategic approach because the problems we face in the sector are complex and there’s no quick fix to them.

We need a strong commitment from government to tackle the problems we face. The sector needs decisive leadership.

Paul Pace - Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses

I hope there will be better consultation and more meetings, and better dialogue, for the sake of both workers and patients alike.

Unfortunately I cannot say it was a good relationship that the minister had with MUMN. The meetings were rare, and when we met the agenda had already been set. His consultants were the doctors themselves, and he did not take ownership for many of the decisions that were taken: the changes inside the emergency department, at Mount Carmel Hospital, the strategic business unit, at the Gozo General Hospital. It was an uphill battle.

The new minister must show leadership and focus on the patient, but also treat all partners on an equal footing. He must grab the bull by the horns and address bed shortage and out-of-stock medicines. He must be strategic, not just rest on reports and committees, but take action.