Surgeon MP turned down for extension of service, Ministry: 'policy is not to extend contracts'

Updated at 7pm with reaction from health ministry.

The surgeon was yesterday conjured up as an example by Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi of professionals in the civil service who were earning more than ministers and also an MP’s honorarium of €19,000.

Gonzi, who yesterday announced ministers will be paying back €14,000 from a special honorarium they were paid for their work as MPs, said ministers were also government employees who should not be discriminated against.

“Consultant surgeons… we have three of them in parliament, are members of the public service and earn salaries higher than ministers. And they still take home an honorarium as MPs,” Gonzi told parliament on Wednesday evening, in justification of ministers receiving honoraria.

Zammit’s request for an extension to his contract at Mater Dei was turned down last week, when he was informed his last day of work would be on Tuesday.

The surgeon told MaltaToday he is currently taking his three-month terminal leave, but that he had three major cases still to tend to. “I knew my employment was coming to an end so I made sure I could complete as much work as possible, but there are still some 40 hernia patients and 50 colonoscopy screenings pending.”

A long-time patient who contacted MaltaToday said he was “worried” that he would have to pay private fees to continue having his medical condition seen to by Zammit.

MaltaToday is informed that other doctors have been granted extensions to their employment at Mater Dei, but Zammit said he suspected nothing untoward about the decision. “It looks like correct procedure since I am going to be 61,” he said.

In a reply, the health ministry said it was government policy that when consultants reach the age of 61, they are considered as having reached retirement age.

“Should there be the need for a replacement, the Health Department issues a call for application accordingly. Such a procedure provides an opportunity for younger Maltese specialists to achieve a consultant status.

“In line with this, the policy of the Department of Surgery has been not to extend the contracts of consultants beyond the age of 61. This has applied in the cases of previous surgeons and will also apply in the case of Mr Anthony Zammit. In fact, over the last few weeks a considerable number of Maltese surgeons have already applied and been interviewed,” a ministry spokesperson said.

The only cases where extensions beyond retirement age have been conceded were those involving the need to address specific waiting lists’ initiatives, such as in the cases of Orthopaedics and Ophthalmology.

“In such cases, the consultants would be engaged solely to deal with cases pertaining to a specific waiting list and they would not retain their firm as per pre retirement practice,” the spokesperson said. “Waiting list initiatives are not based on the waiting lists of a single surgeon but on the collective requirements of the department.”

On Wednesday Labour leader Joseph Muscat pointed out the irony of Zammit being turned down to continue serving at Mater Dei, in his reply to Gonzi’s ministerial statement on ministers’ salaries.

Gonzi said ministers previously had to forfeit their MP’s honorarium to take up their executive role, while civil servants - such as consultant surgeons at Mater Dei - elected as MPs could still retain their jobs in the public service. “By that reasoning, ministers as government employees should be paid their honorarium as MPs,” Gonzi said.

Gonzi has officially announced that ministers will be refunding some €14,000 in increased honoraria they were paid since May 2008. They will retain a €19,000 honorarium they are paid as MPs every year, and refund the extra money they were paid as part of an 'increased' honorarium of €26,000 they were being paid in the past two years.