Newly appointed Parliamentary Secretary for Health Chris Fearne will continue to see his patients at Mater Dei Hospital but will not be paid for the service.

However, he has stopped seeing patients in private clinics and private hospitals with immediate effect. The ministerial code of ethics does not permit Cabinet members to retain their former jobs, even if unpaid.

Controversy had surrounded Parliamentary Secretary for the Elderly Franco Mercieca, an ophthalmic surgeon, after it became known he was still practising his profession.

Eventually, he was granted a waiver from the code and allowed to see patients at Mater Dei, free of charge. He has now resigned his Cabinet post to pursue his profession.

The government had announced that the code of ethics was to be revised but its final draft still awaits Cabinet approval.

Contacted yesterday by Times of Malta, Dr Fearne said that as from Saturday he had stopped seeing patients in private hospitals and clinics.

“I have given up my private practice and given instructions not to accept any new appointments. My name will be removed from the list of doctors in the private sector,” he said. However, for the time being he would continue to see his patients at Mater Dei at no extra cost, saying he could not “abandon his patients”.

Unlike his private practice, where he had started cutting down on appointments once he became aware of the possibility of being given a Cabinet role, no such arrangement could be made at Mater Dei, he said.

Asked whether he had been granted a waiver from the code of ethics as in the case of Dr Mercieca, the parliamentary secretary said the new code had not yet been published and for the time being he would not accept any new patients at Mater Dei.

Asked about his new role, he said the health service needed to be tackled by a national front with the active involvement of all stakeholders including unions and the Opposition.

The increase in life expectancy, healthcare costs and patients’ expectations had made the challenges ahead even tougher.

“We have a short-term plan to hit the ground running on the major challenges like the shortage of beds and out-of-stock medicines as well as medium and long-term plans.”

The Malta Union of Nurses and Midwives yesterday welcomed the reshuffle saying it boded well for the future of the healthcare sector.