Mount Carmel Hospital’s chief executive officer Dolores Gauci has been transferred to the Health Ministry and the psychiatric hospital will now be run by Labour general election candidate Clifton Grima, a lawyer. The change comes despite the Health Minister having a month ago said that no changes were envisaged to the hospital’s top management.
Ms Gauci, the founder of the mental health NGO Richmond Foundation, has now been made chief operations officer (COO) responsible for community mental health within the Health Ministry.
Dr Grima, former mayor of Msida, has been appointed the hospital’s chief operations officer.
A month ago Health Minister Godfrey Farrugia had explicitly told Times of Malta that no changes were envisaged in the top management at Mount Carmel.
The senior management has remained the same
That day Dr Farrugia said he was “saddened” by “speculation” in the media on the impending appointment of the Labour general election candidate.
Yesterday Dr Farrugia insisted he had not lied, saying there were no changes because Ms Gauci would still form part of the mental health management team.
“We did not replace Ms Gauci,” he insisted when questioned as he was walking into Parliament.
“The senior management has remained the same.
“Not only, but it has been consolidated with a team that oversees the overall implementation of the Mental Health Act. Both COOs are part of this team,” he said.
He explained that Ms Gauci will be responsible for the implementation of the Mental Health Act, particularly the community care aspect.
“There is no doubt that community-oriented and patient-focused mental health care is the standard bearer of this service.
“It is the way forward whereby we are to seek excellence in mental health care.
“Ms Gauci has remained within the senior management of the mental health service and has been given the prima donna role in community mental health care as a COO,” he said.
When speculation was rife that Dr Grima would replace Ms Gauci at the psychiatric hospital, Dr Farrugia on September 5 said Dr Grima was “simply a rapporteur on the three-year plan for the implementation of the Mental Health Act”.
Asked yesterday what qualifications Dr Grima had to run a psychiatric hospital, Dr Farrugia replied: “Dr Grima, with his legal and management background, is the new COO at acute hospital health care, within a system that may have medico-legal implications.”