The Health Ministry started the new year without its chief information officer, Times of Malta is informed.
Arthur Gerada, who had been overseeing the implementation of all the Health Department’s IT systems since 2006, including those at Mater Dei Hospital, tendered his resignation a few days ago.
It followed a disagreement over a number of projects being developed by the Health Ministry, including a new patient administration system (PAS) for Mater Dei, this newspaper has learnt.
A ministry spokesman confirmed Mr Gerada left but did not give any reason.
The resignation was no surprise among colleagues
When contacted, Mr Gerada said he had stepped down “over work-related issues” but would not go into detail.
Ministry sources told Times of Malta that the resignation was no surprise among colleagues because Mr Gerada’s position had been practically taken over by Mark Sammut, an IT aide to former European commissioner and Nationalist minister John Dalli.
Mr Sammut, who owns a small IT development company – Mall Enterprises Ltd – was engaged by the Health Ministry as its IT consultant and tasked with developing a new PAS, a very sensitive system usually handled by multinationals. IT systems in the public health sector and Mr Sammut’s involvement have been in the news for the past months.
Soon after Mr Dalli’s appointment to review the manner in which Mater Dei is run, the government decided to scrap a €25 million IT contract and develop the PAS in-house instead.
In a report published in November, Mr Dalli wrote that his team – including Mr Sammut – had “immediately started to redesign and programme in-house a new modern PAS system with increased functionality”.
The Health Ministry later said this was its own initiative and not Mr Dalli’s.
The decision to develop the new system, which is being tested, was harshly criticised by Mater Dei’s IT department, noting it had not been consulted and distanced itself from the PAS.
This newspaper is also informed that a number of officials and medical consultants have warned the ministry about the serious consequences a collapse of the PAS would have on running the hospital.
A few weeks ago, it was revealed that Mr Sammut – through his private company – submitted a tender to develop an IT system for a new medicines stock facility in San Ġwann.
The call for tenders was issued by the Health Ministry.
Asked whether this amounted to a conflict of interest, Health Minister Godfrey Farrugia noted the contract has not yet been awarded.
Mr Sammut’s company submitted the lowest bid.