Cardiologist Albert Fenech this morning filed a judicial protest claiming he was being made to work precariously and in breach of government policy.

In his protest, against the Health Parliamentary Secretary, the ministry’s permanent secretary and the Mater Dei CEO, Prof. Fenech said he had been providing a full-time service for more than 18 years, with the exception of one day because of a technical issue.

He said he always gave valuable service in the interest of patients who wanted him to continue serving them on a full-time basis.

In his protest, signed by Andrew Borg Cardona, Prof. Fenech, a Nationalist MP, claimed that on the excuse that he had reached pensionable age, and ignoring the fact that he had reached this age years ago and had remained in service even after his contract expired, he was now directed to work 20-hour weeks, which he believed was in breach of the provision against precarious employment.

He said he believed this was aimed at lowering his morale, so he would  consider retiring completely, and that this could be because of his political involvement.

Prof. Fenech said this had brought him to a state of precarious employment, a circumstance that went against the government’s expressed policy.

He called on the court to order his reinstatement within a week.