The Public Accounts Committee would “likely” look into the contracts signed for the partial privatisation of three State hospitals, chairman Tonio Fenech said.
“This is an issue we would likely look into. We will have to wait until Parliament resumes after the summer recess but, at this point, it is definitely of interest,” Mr Fenech, a Nationalist MP and former finance minister, told the Times of Malta.
The contracts signed between the government and Vitals Global Healthcare will see the company invest some €220 million in a total revamp of Karin Grech, St Luke’s and Gozo hospitals. The contracts have yet to be made public.
The matter was brought before the courts last week when the Medical Association of Malta and the Union Ħaddiema Magħqudin filed a joint judicial protest calling for the contracts to be made publicly available.
Signed by lawyer Ian Spiteri Bailey, the protest also called on the government to send all contracts to the Auditor General to be scrutinised as part of a due diligence process.
Deals like this cannot remain secret
The protest was filed against Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, Health Minister Chris Fearne, Minister Without Portfolio Konrad Mizzi – who was previously responsible for health – and against the Directorate for Health Care Services.
Mr Fenech said the PAC could also choose to call on the Auditor General to review the contracts or even review the contracts itself.
“The committee has been hampered by the government in the past when contracts meant to be scrutinised were only partially handed over to us,” he noted.
MAM general secretary Martin Balzan said the doctors’ union welcomed the PAC chairman’s interest in the matter saying the contracts were of “national interest”.
“We are talking about major agreements on State-owned assets. Deals like this cannot remain secret,” the veteran respiratory physician said.
The three hospitals were transferred to the company on a 30-year lease after a deal was secured last March.
Vitals has pledged to transform the hospitals into state-of-the-art centres, increasing bed capacity and attracting medical tourism. It estimates it will create about 800 new jobs, half of them in Gozo.
The UĦM and the MAM, meanwhile, said they were having talks with the government on how the company would run the hospitals and, within this context, have, for some time, been asking to see the agreements reached with Vitals.
Seeing the contracts, they argue, would put them in a better position to reach an agreement with the government as they needed to know the conditions agreed upon between the two parties to ensure adequate working conditions for hospital staff.