Hospital privatisation contracts 'would benefit from investigation', Democratic party says

The Democratic party (PD) has sided with the Medical Association of Malta (MAM) and Union Ħaddiema Magħqudin (UĦM), who have refused to negotiate or finalise agreements with Vitals Global Healthcare until an investigation by Parliament’s public accounts committee is conducted.

Vitals Global Healthcare (VGH) has signed a 30-year concession agreement to run Gozo General Hospital, St Luke’s Hospital and Karin Grech Hospital.

UHM and MAM had asked the Auditor General and the parliamentary public accounts committee (PAC) to investigate the contracts signed, and raised questions over the source of money which was being invested in the hospitals.

Following a request made by the Opposition, the contracts will be discussed by the parliamentary health committee. In their request for further scrutiny by the PAC, UHM said it was imperative to eliminate all doubt and to fully establish the operator’s stability if the jobs and conditions of work of its members were to be guaranteed.

“Partit Demokratiku supports MAM and UĦM for insisting on negotiating directly with the government regarding the jobs of healthcare workers,” PD said in a statement.

In a judicial protest in September against the Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, health minister Chris Fearne, Minister without portfolio Konrad Mizzi and the Directorate for Health Care Services Standards, the unions argued that although their negotiations with the government were yet to be concluded, parallel negotiations between government and Vitals Global Healthcare had carried on regardless, despite the discussions with the unions needing to be concluded beforehand.

“PD understands why MAM and UĦM have insisted that their negotiations be held with the government and not with a third party: the workers that MAM and UĦM represent work with the government,” the party said.

“The half-secret contracts between the government and the private company attempting to run three Maltese hospitals are extremely shady, and would benefit from being investigated by the public accounts committee and later debated thoroughly and openly in parliament,” PD health spokesperson Alexander Clayman said.