Consultant dermatologist Dino Vella Briffa has been brought out of retirement to fill the post at the GU clinic vacated by Philip Carabot, who, before resigning last month, used to have his contract renewed annually since reaching retirement age.

Last month, The Sunday Times of Malta reported that the State’s only sexual health clinic had been closed for some three weeks because the health authorities failed to agree on contractual terms with the only doctor qualified to run it.

The recruitment process has been activated to engage another consultant in this particular speciality

The earliest appointments are now being allocated to the end of February and beginning of March.

Dr Carabot told this newspaper that he was first offered a 20-hour week, which he felt was untenable, seeing the clinic served an average of 250 clients a month. It was later stretched to three months, then six months and later a year, which he accepted.

However, on the same day, he discovered that an advert had been placed with the British Association for Sexual Health and HIV, “urgently seeking a consultant for immediate employment due to retirement”.

Baffled by this, each time he attempted to seek clarifications he found the doors of communication firmly shut. He then resigned.

Health Parliamentary Secretary Chris Fearne recently said that a new consultant has been hired and services at the clinic were now back to normal.

There has also been an international call for another consultant to be hired at the clinic.

This newspaper asked the secretariat to comment on the situation, as well as on how many days per week Dr Vella Briffa was working , whether a proper handover was ensured and whether one consultant was enough to handle the GU clinic’s patients.

A health spokesman replied that Dr Vella Briffa “took over the full function of the GU clinic since Dr Carabot did not take up the post-retirement contract offered to him in 2014”.

The GU clinic, he said, is currently providing all the required services, since Dr Vella Briffa is filling all the duties that used to be carried out by Dr Carabot.

“The recruitment process has been activated to engage another consultant in this particular speciality, and as is the case with all specialities the Department of Health regularly evaluates clinical demand and assesses the human resources needed to match such demand.”