Health Ministry requests criminal investigation into Mater Dei scam

The Health Ministry has asked the police to carry out a criminal investigation about a scam at Mater Dei, in which patients were swindled out of hundreds of euros by offering therapy not provided by the state and leading them to believe it was free.

The scam, which has been reported upon in today’s The Sunday Times and on timesofmalta.com (see link below), centred around patients, mostly amputees recovering at Mater Dei where healthcare is free – who were encouraged to use equipment to speed up the healing of deep wounds. They were then charged between €700 and €1,000.

An internal inquiry into this racket, commissioned by the Health Ministry last May, has just been completed and the findings were handed over to the Police Commissioner last Friday.

The Health Ministry this afternoon confirmed the report saying it had also launched a formal inquiry which would also examine the administrate systems and see what further steps, including disciplinary measures, could be taken.

The ministry insisted that the government would not tolerate any form of abuse.

It said it was shameful that there were people who irresponsibly exploited vulnerable people going through health problems and the government would take action against those implementing such abuse.

In the meantime, the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses has denied its involvement in the scam.

It said in a statement this afternoon that there was no scam whatsoever, nothing illegal and no wrongdoing.

“The facts of the case are that the service in question had been provided for free but the Health Department had decided that this service would no longer be given.

“This notwithstanding a number of consultants working at Mater Dei continued to prescribe this treatment for their patients and the nurses' involvement, not one but many as this was widespread practice throughout the whole Mater Dei hospital, was to execute the consultants' orders in the interests of the patients, as it is their duty to do.”

The union said that the newspaper report “maliciously” gives the impression that a particular nurse who is a top MUMN official was participating for his financial gain.

The official, it said, was not even a member of the executive and only chaired a committee.

“MUMN declares that no nurse has whether directly or indirectly made even the slightest gain out of this situation."

MUMN said that no nurses, including the nurse to whom the report would appear to refer, were ever questioned by the police on this case and it failed to see how the police could have conducted and even concluded an investigation without questioning the alleged wrong-doer.

See also:

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20100822/local/mater-dei-scam-being-investigated