New health minister defends predecessor's work

Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi in Birgu

The minister for energy and health has come out in defense of former health minister Godfrey Farrugia insisting that his predecessor had left good foundations for his successors to build upon.

Flanked by Labour MEP candidates Deborah Schembri, Mario Farrugia Borg and Cyrus Engerer, Minister Konrad Mizzi this morning toured the Birgu flea market, as part of the Labour's EP elections campaign.

Responding to journalists' questions on the party's roadmap for health, Mizzi said Mater Dei Hospital's main problem was the lack of beds.

"This administration inherited a small hospital in terms of bed capacity and we are now in the process of implementing a number of projects to alleviate the burden and address the situation at the A&E department," he said. "We are analysing the existing plans and tweaking them in what we believe will bring about the necessary results."

Urging the reporters to "judge" him and parliamentary secretary for health Chris Fearne by the results, Mizzi insisted it was "unfair" to criticise Farrugia.

"He left us with good foundations and the number of medicines that were out of stock decreased under his leadership. Farrugia's heart was in the right place," he added.

One of the initial changes undertaken by Mizzi and Fearne was to reverse a decision taken in September to have two directors responsible for health.

The reform of the Mental Health Act required a director for administrative affairs and a clinical director. But according to Chris Fearne, clinical chairpersons and unions advised that there should be one director responsible instead of two.

In this change, it was decided to terminate Dolores Gauci's role, at the chief operations officer at Mount Carmel. She was previously the CEO.
This decision was criticised by shadow health minister Claudio Grech who argued Gauci's removal was a mistake.

The health minister argued the decision to reverse the split was down to "an assessment and studying what's best for mental health care."
The ministry also has a "health leadership team" that meets once a week to study the structures and proposes new plans or changes.

Switching to campaign mode, Mizzi said he felt "positive energy" emanating from the people - mostly housewives - he met while touring the flea market.

"There's a clear message of a positive vibe which gives us the energy to continue working on our programme. We are now recharged after the Easter break, confident that we can and are making a difference," the minister said.