Former health minister Godfrey Farrugia has placed the blame for his early exit from Cabinet on the Prime Minister’s advisers.

He did not mention names but referred to high ranking officials at the Office of the Prime Minister, when asked who he was referring to.

His comments came in the wake of an interview with the Church radio station RTK, in which he complained that the communication between his ministry and the OPM on PR issues was “terrible”.

Basically, I think that the people close to the Prime Minister gave him the wrong advice

The statement reinforces comments by Dr Farrugia’s partner and fellow Labour MP Marlene Farrugia, who has also been launching darts at the Office of the Prime Minister and its “strategists”.

When asked about the Prime Minister’s decision to give the health portfolio to someone else, Dr Farrugia said: “Basically, I think that the people close to the Prime Minister gave him the wrong advice.”

Asked to be more specific, he said a high ranking official within the Office of the Prime Minister.

Dr Farrugia was offered the Social Solidarity portfolio, which was vacated by Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca when she was nominated for the presidency. However, he turned it down, arguing that he was committed to the health sector.

The Żebbuġ doctor insisted yesterday that his year at the helm of the health ministry had been spent laying the foundations for the legislature but he also pointed out that his ministry had delivered or started to deliver on 36 per cent of the 60 points for the sector listed in Labour’s electoral manifesto.

“And this in spite of the fact that I was operating within a budget set by the previous administration,” he said.

Dr Farrugia also reacted to a comment made by the head of the Malta Union of Nurses, Paul Pace, as he welcomed Dr Farrugia’s successor, Parliamentary Secretary for Health Chris Fearne.

Mr Pace said the last straw with the former health minister came when he “he went behind our backs to make changes”.

He was referring to one of the very last decisions taken by Dr Farrugia, to reopen two wards at St Luke’s Hospital.

The union threatened to close down all government health centres on the same day Dr Farrugia tendered his resignation.

Dr Farrugia insisted that during his tenure he treated all five trade unions in the sector as “indispensible stakeholders”. MUMN was present in countless consultation meetings and was only “unrepresented when Mr Pace decided to ignore the summons”.

He also pointed out that the decision to open “half a ward and not two as cited” was taken in consultation with the MUMN.

“We did consult the union and they had given us the ratio of nurses and care workers they were happy with. We didn’t consult Paul Pace because he was abroad but he is not the only official at the union as far as I know,” Dr Farrugia said, pointing out that ultimately, this decision was taken to help deal with the problem of overcrowding at Mater Dei at weekends.

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