Ombudsman sounds dire warning against privatisation of hospitals

Ombudsman Anthony Mifsud has warned that the privatisation of the St Luke’s, Gozo and Karin Grech hospitals by Vitals Global Healthcare will result in patients losing the right to complain about abuses at his office.

In his Ombudsplan for 2017 that he presented to the House Business Committee, Mifsud warned that, as a consequence of privatisation, citizens will lose the right to file complaints with the Ombudsman – therefore prejudicing their right to be ensured that they will be treated justly and in a non-discriminative and non-abusive manner.

“Due to the size of the country, whenever the government privatises a service it effectively creates a private monopoly in that sector, forcing citizens to go to that specific company for a particular service,” he wrote. “It will be a negative and retrogade step if an independent and autonomous entity like the Ombudsman loses the right to scrutinize private service providers.

“Citizens will lose the protection they currently enjoy at a time they need it most, against the might of a private service provider that will be primarily motivated by profit and not necessarily by the common good.”

Shadow health minister Claudette Buttigieg flagged those remarks as particularly concerning, but civil liberties minister Helena Dalli questioned the Ombudsman as to why he didn’t include any concrete proposals or research to back up his argument,

“You had included research in other parts of your report, but failed to do so here,” she told him. “Also, privatisation doesn’t mean that citizens’ rights won’t be safeguarded, because there are laws that protect the rights of consumers against any abuse. Besides, the governemnt will maintain the role regulator to ensure that things are proceeding smoothly.”

In his report, Mifsud had pre-empted such an argument – warning that seeking redress from tribunals or from organisations that  help consumers if often too long and impractical.

“The protectionary service that the Ombudsman can offer is of an entirely different nature,” he said.

Economy minister Chris Cardona rejected Mifsud’s argument that privatisation of health services would create a monopoly, noting that EU laws that have been transposed into Maltese law prevent such a scenario.

“The problem is not market dominance, but whether such dominance is abused. Let’s not damage the European pillars of the free market and free trade by using such arguments."

In response, Mifsud coolly told the MPs that he had sent a set of proposals to health minister Chris Fearne on how the law can be changed to ensure that patients don’t lose their right to seek redress.

“It is now up to him [Fearne] as to whether he will compile these proposals into a draft law to be debated in Parliament,” he said.

Elsewhere in the report, Mifsud also called for the appointment of a Deputy Ombudsman and for the Ombudsman and Commissioners to be given a single seven or nine year term of office, rather than a five year term renewable for a second term.

He also said that future Ombudsmen should be able to apply to the role following an expression of interest, and that nominees will be screened by a committee “similar” to the one that was recently set up to assess potential judges and magistrates. The committee will submit its recommendation to Parliament, where it will require a two-thirds majority to pass.

He also called for the revision of the Ombudsman’s Charter, so as to include clear guidelines for government to provide his office with all the necessary information on time, as well as for a law to regulate the lobbying of political parties.

“When conducted openly, lobbying is a crucial aspect of the democratic process. However, when secretive, it can lead to good goverenance problems. There should be legislation to regulate lobbying to ensure clean and accountable public administration.”

Helena Dalli responded that social partners at the Malta Council for Social and Economic Development (MCESD) will soon discuss the potential regulation of lobbying.