The 2009 Annual Report of the Medical Council of Malta, due by the end of the first quarter, has been published - or posted online.

It is a lengthy report reflecting the greatly increased workload of this statutory body which is now assuming a more important public role as a watchdog of proper standards of competence and conduct on the part of its medical members.

A substantial part of its business falls under item No.12 of the report, entitled 'Complaints, Inquiries and Criminal Proceedings'.

The outstanding case under this heading, described in the report as "one of the most serious cases encountered by the Medical Council", was that of a consultant neurosurgeon who, together with a colleague, was expected to operate on a patient but "failed to go to the operating theatre".

The surgeon in question was found by the council "guilty of professional misconduct and will be suspended from the register for three months and fined €10,000". The case is now before the civil courts.

One cannot help but ask if this incident occurred in a public hospital and, if so, whether the consultant in question has been suspended from service until the Courts of Justice reach a verdict.

And, considering the importance of the post of a consultant neurosurgeon in our public healthcare service, is the surgeon being replaced until a decision is reached?

These are matters of public interest which, as far as I know, have not been aired in the media.

The report includes some six annexes dealing with participation of the council in conferences and forums held abroad, in places ranging from Stockholm to Paris, from London and Athens.

This is a welcome departure from the usual activities of the council, underwritten, no doubt, by the financial resources resulting from the gathering of fees and other sundry charges of which no financial account is given.