Pathetic fling at windmills

Embarrassing or what, to see, not only an ex-prime minister but one who has left an indelible mark on Malta's history, being reduced to 'standing up' to a comedian with Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici (another ex-prime minister) a latter-day Sancho Panza,...

Despite Dom Mintoff's non-endearing qualities, he did change the class system on the island and put Malta on the international map.

I understand that Dr Mifsud Bonnici later said that he enjoys helping il-Perit, but surely he was not enjoying seeing his hero making an ass of himself.

I doubt that Mr Mintoff, a scourge to the Maltese upper classes and Salvatur to the then working classes, takes advice from anyone. Which is a shame, because he would have been well advised to stay away from Xarabank .

He was used in the same context as the bearded lady or the dancing bear at the fair. That is the kind of show it is. Surely, even Mr Mintoff must realise that times have changed and he cannot run the show any more, let alone that kind of show.

He tried, unsuccessfully, to salvage some control by telling Peppi Azzopardi, the producer and presenter of the programme, that he was only the 'conductor' on the bus (xarabank), i.e. someone who collects the tickets (Mr Mintoff probably does not even know that job no longer exists).

Peppi is very much the driver and he knows where he wants the bus and his performers to go. Mr Mintoff's main gist (in the few minutes I watched the programme) was that the prime minister, Dr Fenech Adami, is breaching our Constitution by taking Malta into Europe. But he did not present any cogitable argument to support his claim.

It is typical of the man who tried to integrate Malta with Britain in the Fifties to miss the irony of the situation.

Mintoff also had a go at journalists, saying that we are "all paid". What he meant of course was "in the pay of" political parties and other entities.

I resented that gross generalisation and there are many other journalists whose sole income comes from the media they work for. The partisan media (owned by political parties, unions, etc) is another matter.

Mr Mintoff's bullying, dictatorial tactics might have worked in the past, but on Friday they fizzled into a pathetic fling at windmills.

Reform needed at Medical Council

Need for lay representation on Medical Council". This heading interested me because I have attempted to get information on the local General Medical Council several times over the years, but I had not got anywhere. To say the person I spoke to was unco-operative is putting it mildly.

I could not make my mind up whether this was a 'slumbering' or 'secretive' body reluctant to be stirred. Notice of sittings or any other information are never passed on to the media.

I had written a couple of articles complaining about the lack of information emanating from that insititution, but excepting for a few individuals, notable among them Professor J.A. Muscat, the subject did not seem to generate much interest.

However, recent events - namely the Pamela Page story - have brought the GMC into the public gaze once more. The heading accompanied an article by Professor Muscat on The Times' back page on Friday.

"We have the Medical Council of Malta coming out... to give its first ever press conference to explain that confidentiality prevents it from saying anything about this case".

Now it is understandable that some things might be confidential, but what is the point of calling a press conference if one has nothing to say? A lot has been publicised; one could give information while retaining 'confidentiality'.

The GMC could have at least told the conference what they are doing about it. However, it seems that nothing is being done.

"The president of the council (Judge Caruana Colombo) goes on to say that it cannot take up the issue before a formal complaint is lodged in writing, sworn in person and the evidence presented by the 'injured' party," said Professor Muscat.

However, Fr John Avellino, writing in Il-Gens yesterday, said that is very likely that the Medical Council will start investigating Doctors Adrian Vella, Louis Buhagiar and Frank Portelli after complaints received by them and the Health Department from International Medical Rescue Ltd (IMR) and the British Medical Emergency Service Forum.

Graham J. Reed, an IMR medical claims investigator, told Il-Gens that about a year ago IMR started noting the excessive tariffs their clients were being charged for varied medical services in Malta, and early this year he sent a "dossier" of foreign patients who received medical attention at St Philip's while here on holiday, to the Medical Council and the health authorities.

Dr Portelli is St Philip's CEO and Dr Buhagiar is a consultant there.

The case came to public attention after a letter by Pamela Page was published in The Times.

Dr Portelli also wrote to The Times on Thursday saying that he has "no objection whatsoever that the Medical Council commences investigations on any accusations made against me". Dr Portelli feels he can prove the allegations are baseless and "requests humbly" that the council conclude its deliberations within two months.

It is extraordinary that the Medical Council has to get 'permission' from a doctor before it investigates, which is what is implied in the letter.

I always thought the Medical Council was there to look after the interests of the public, not the doctors.

The British Medical Council (on which the local council is supposed to be based) Website states: "We have strong and effective legal powers designed to maintain the standards the public have a right to expect of doctors. We are not here to protect the medical profession - their interests are protected by others. Our job is to protect patients."

The Website also contains the makeup of the British Medical Council:

¤ 54 doctors elected by doctors on the register;

¤ 25 members of the public nominated by the Privy Council;

¤ 25 doctors appointed by educational bodies - the universities, medical royal colleges and faculties.

The Privy Council nominees are not medically qualified. Their task is to speak for the public, enabling the GMC to act as a focus for debate between doctors and patients. They play a vital part in all areas of our (GMC) work.

The BGMC has been developing proposals for making their GMC more effective, inclusive and accountable since May 2000. In July last year the Council agreed a package of constitutional reforms which would reduce its size from 104 to 35 and increase lay membership from 25 per cent to 40 per cent.

The BMA has endorsed the need for reform and support revalidation of the GMC very strongly. The new system of regular checks on all doctors will be the most far reaching reform of regulation in 140 years.

"We recognise the general frustration and anxieties that ordinary doctors, delivering good quality health care under difficult circumstances, are experiencing. We know that many good doctors feel under valued in the face of unremitting pressures and the effects of a small number of headline cases which are not typical of the profession as a whole", said the GMC.

But to get back to Professor Muscat's appeal, he stated: "If the medical profession in Malta wants to be a truly self-regulatory body, it should work towards a Medical Council that is representative and democratic. As it is the ordinary citizen has no representation and no voice."

Is it too much to hope for the same attention being given by the institution we are modelled on to lay representation?

Excellent for some

Astounding rather than "excellent news", I thought when I read that Malta will be the only EU member state in which hunting and trapping in spring will be permitted.

Bird hunting at sea will also continue and a full captive breeding system to maintain the tradition of bird-keeping (whatever that means) by end of 2007.

I am appalled. Despite all those photographs of massacred swans and other birds and pages of letters condemning the practice, the hunters' vote has won the day. We are also warned about the dangers of lead poisoning caused by hunters' cartridges in today's paper (see page 53).

However, it was not all bad environmental news - air and water quality and waste management targets will have to be met. Industry will have to adopt rules on dangerous substance dumping by 2007 and the gas bottling plant at Birzebbuga is to close down and replaced with a plant built to EU standards in Benghisa.

Concert promoting peace

Our saviour Parish Church in Lija last Thursday was the ideal venue to host a concert promoting peace and celebrating the 12th anniversary of German Unity.

Egyptian, Israeli, Arab Israeli, Lebanese, Jordanian and German musicians form the East West Chamber Ensemble, who enchanted audiences both in church and at the Manoel Theatre's Sala Isouard last week.

Considering the precarious situation in the Middle East and Iraq, such initiatives are truly pertinent.

Last goodbye

I said my last goodbye to my first employer on Tuesday. When I left school and decided to start earning my keep, Ninì Miceli-Farrugia gave me my first and only job in Malta until I came back to live here in 1992.

My time at Farsons was brief, but I bumped into him and his wife often in the last ten years and he liked to tell me that he used to play football with my dad at the Barracca in their youth.

With a twinkle in his eye, he loved to reminisce about what they used to get up to. Some people can never be forgotten - Mr Miceli-Farrugia is one of them.