The Mount Carmel Hospital cook who defended the transfer of an employee by saying a Labour government was now in power has been given a verbal warning, The Sunday Times of Malta has learnt.

Reno Grech, the hospital’s chief cook, had made the remark during a meeting with the Union Ħaddiema Magħqudin in December, which discussed why three hospital employees had been singled out for a transfer. The meeting was also attended by the hospital’s new chief operations officer, Clifton Grima.

A spokesman for the Health Ministry first denied that anything of the sort had been said during that meeting but later admitted that Mr Grech had been stopped immediately.

“Such comments are unacceptable, both for the hospital administration as well as for the Health Ministry,” the spokesman said in reply to questions sent by this newspaper.

Such comments are unacceptable both for the hospital as well as for the Health Ministry

Asked if any disciplinary action had been taken against Mr Grech, who told the union he was taking care of the hospital administration although his job was to manage the kitchen, the spokesman said he had been given a “verbal warning” by Dr Grima during the meeting.

The ministry spokesman said the warning had been given to the other employees who had raised their voice during the noisy meeting, including those who had been given a transfer order.

The three employees involved work in the hospital’s maintenance section and, in accordance with a directive issued by the union, were still reporting for work at Mount Carmel Hospital rather than at their new place of work. One is a technical officer, while the other two are tradesmen.

The spokesman said all transfers were ordered according to the hospital’s exigencies.

He, however, did not react to other parts of the story published in The Sunday Times of Malta two weeks ago that one of the workers had been locked out of the office after the lock had been changed.

mxuereb@timesofmalta.com