An internal memo is reminding health centre staff about appropriate internet use after a patient complained a doctor was doing online shopping in his presence.

The doctor, who served at the Gżira health centre, apologised for his actions and was given a written warning, a Health Ministry spokesman said.

Also, internet restrictions were stepped up at the health centre.

The issue was raised last week on the Facebook page Are You Being Served? where people comment about the quality of service they receive.

A man wrote about his “bad experience” at the Gżira health centre where he took his girlfriend after she fainted and injured her lip. He said the doctor, who he mentioned by name, “barely spoke [and] he didn’t ask what was wrong or how the injury to my girlfriend’s lip happened”.

The man complained that, after stitching his girlfriend’s lip, the doctor told her she was done and then he “turned around, went on the computer and typed in Lidl Malta and proceeded with some internet shopping” as other patients waited outside.

He didn’t ask what was wrong or how the injury happened

The complainant noted that the doctor showed no interest in looking into what caused his girlfriend to faint.

They had to ask for her blood pressure to be taken and, when it was found to be normal, the doctor “turned back to his internet shopping”.

In a moment of frustration, the man wrote: “Next time I will go straight to Mater Dei [Hospital] emergency room.”

“It transpired that the doctor admitted the wrong use of the internet and made a sincere apology. He denied that he ever neglected the patient or in any way gave a substandard treatment,” a spokesman for the Health Ministry said.

A memo was issued to all Primary Health Care Department staff about the proper use of the internet at work.

The spokesman said the Malta Information Technology Agency was asked to investigate the sites accessed by Gżira health centre computers and to introduce more filters on websites accessed.