Three of four police investigations into Mater Dei Hospital’s financial management have drawn a blank, Times of Malta has learnt.
The investigations, looking into cases related to the hospital’s contracts and procurement, were ordered after a government inquiry revealed “eye catching” inconsistencies in the way the hospital was being run.
Sources said most of the investigations had been concluded and had revealed no criminal liability, while one last investigation was in its final stages.
We have looked into it and taken all the action we could so far
Health Parliamentary Secretary Chris Fearne said the police investigations were started after an internal inquiry, ordered by former health minister Godfrey Farrugia earlier this year, had raised suspicions of illegalities.
The internal inquiry looked into allegations of mismanagement made in a report drafted by former EU health commissioner John Dalli.
Drafted last year, the contentious Dalli report had made a number of allegations of “maladministration and bad practices” at the €600 million hospital.
The police inquiries were not the first external investigations into Mr Dalli’s claims.
Last January, Dr Farrugia had told this newspaper that the “suspicious finances” would be handed over for investigation to either the Attorney General or the Auditor General. He had also not ruled out bringing in the police if necessary.
The investigations did not stop there. Mr Fearne said he had called upon a private auditing firm to draft a review of the hospital’s entire financial system which would coincide with the police investigation.
“A reputable firm is looking into discrepancies, accounting and the whole financial system at Mater Dei,” he said.
The audit, described as a first for the State hospital, is expected to be completed in the coming weeks and Mr Fearne insisted he would not hesitate to report any irregularities to the police if more suspicions arose.
This isn’t an issue of us shelving the report or doing nothing
“If the audit reveals more than systematic problems, we will report these to the competent authorities, even the police if necessary,” he said, adding there had been no indication of this so far.
Mr Dalli’s scathing report had highlighted, among others, a serious lack of control over pharmaceuticals and medical supplies, problems with payslips, unauthorised transfers of high value medical equipment and discrepancies in inventories, to the tune of millions of euros.
At the time of its publication in November, the report was slammed by unions who described it as taking shots at healthcare professionals.
The report had also been met with scepticism from the public, many of who questioned whether action would be taken or if the report would be stuck on the perpetual backburner.
Asked for his reaction to the public’s concern, Mr Fearne said: “This isn’t an issue of us shelving the report or doing nothing, quite the contrary. We have looked into it and taken all the action we could so far. We can’t do any more than we have done.”