Dr Frank Portelli, CEO of St Philip Hospital, insisted today that the Medical Council could not fine him in a case involving Prof Louis Buhagiar because it had no legal authority to decide on any action by a CEO of a private hospital

The Council had imposed a fine of €10,000 on Dr Portelli and warned him that unless it was paid by October 1, he would be struck off the Medical Register.

Dr Portelli said he was asking the Medical Council to withdraw its decision by Wednesday or face legal consequences. He was also holding the members of the Council legally liable for damages to his reputation.

The case centres on a letter that Dr Portelli wrote to Dr Louis Buhagiar on July 16, 2003. In this letter, Dr Portelli said he had informed Dr Buhagiar that he was being suspended from St Philip's Hospital because of 'repeated complaints we had received about the professional fees Dr Buhagiar was charging patients'.

Dr Portelli said he had written that letter in his capacity as a CEO of St Philip's Hospital and not in his personal capacity, and the council had therefore acted outside the powers ascribed to it by law.