Updated at 4.50pm with ministry statement

Tens of ‘extra’ employees were recruited at Mount Carmel Hospital in May 2017 – at the height of the election campaign – on the direct intervention of the Health Ministry, a report by the Auditor General shows.

The National Audit Office said the Health Ministry, headed by Deputy Prime Minister Chris Fearne, took advantage of a contract originally covering the provision of clerical services to almost triple the number of ‘clerks’ at the State mental health hospital. This happened, though it is not specified in the report, in the run-up to the election.

It also emerges from the findings that, rather than recruiting the extra employees through normal government channels, ministry officials recommended candidates to the contractor – JF Services Ltd – who obliged, hiring them and then billing the government for their wages and related costs.

This recruitment exercise is costing taxpayers almost €2 million in additional expenses a year. The place of residence of the new recruits is not listed in the Auditor General’s report.

Ministry officials recommended candidates to the contractor

The NAO noted that although the contract, which kept being renewed through a direct order approved by the Finance Ministry, was strictly for clerks, those recruited in the period under review were not required. To mitigate the situation, most of the new employees were given other duties varying from drivers, to helping in the kitchen and carrying out security duties outside the scope of the contract.

Some of those recruited did not possess the minimum of qualifications to perform their job. Electricians were recruited without the necessary licences and had to be given other jobs to avoid problems while the government had to hire other electricians and, of course, pay them.

Read: Mt Carmel Hospital hired twice as many clerks as planned, then gave them different duties

When asked how the extra staff members were recruited by the contractor and on whose request, none of the hospital officials could give a straight reply and most insisted the recruitment happened before their time at the mental health institution.

Paul Dalli, the hospital’s former chief operating officer who now works at the Health Ministry, said “individuals were referred to him by the Health Ministry” and he would then “recommend to the service provider [the private contractor] to be recruited and deployed at Mt Carmel”.

Pressed by the NAO to say why the ministry took it upon itself to find employees for the contractor instead of the other way round, ministry officials replied that “such an intervention was required since the contractor was finding it very difficult to source the necessary human resources”.

Hospital officials were unable to say why a contract for clerks was used to engage all types of personnel who were not required. However, CEO Stephen Sultana, the Labour mayor of Santa Venera, confirmed that those recruited were still on the contractor’s payroll and were still paid by the government.

Admitting that some of those recruited were not up to standard, he conceded that “it is very difficult to dismiss non-performing individuals [employed with the contractor] when these would have been referred to the service provider by the hospital itself for recruitment”.

The Times of Malta reported last November that procurement rules were being ignored by Mount Carmel when securing contracts. It was also reported that this also applied to contracts for farmed-out services such as cleaners, nurses, carers and security personnel.

Ministry reacts 

In a statement issued on Friday afternoon, the Health Ministry said that the hospital had increased its staff numbers by 120 in the year under review - 81 support workers and 37 clinicians. 

Over the past decade, the ministry said, the hospital had added an average of 83 people every year. The largest increase had happened between 2011 and 2012, when 304 people were added to the hospital's books. 

The ministry said that many of the workers recruited in 2017 were needed "to start addressing the serious deficiencies which had accumulated over the years". 

Security personnel had clerical contracts

Why the NAO study?

In a report issued in May 2018, the NAO observed that outsourced security personnel at Mount Carmel Hospital were governed by a contract for clerical services. This led it to conduct an in-depth review to obtain a clearer picture on how the hospital was managing the contract.

What was procured?

In July 2015, JF Services Ltd was tasked with providing 60 full-time clerical staff on a two-year contract.

What happened then?

In May 2017, when the contract was supposedly coming to a close and Malta was in a full electoral mode (the election was held on June 3), a new call for tenders was expected to be issued. Instead, the contract was renewed through a direct order against public procurement rules.

The number of clerks at the hospital shot up from 60 to 156 in May 2017.

Who recruited the clerks?

The NAO found no documentation to justify the increase. However, according to the former hospital COO, rather than of JF Services providing the extra recruits it was the Health Ministry that was recommending the new employees to the contractor and put on the government’s wage bill.

Were the clerks necessary?

No. So much so that the NAO found that the ministry was using the clerks’ contract to recruit all kinds of unrelated personnel. These included security officers, drivers, carpenters, kitchen helpers, plasterers and tile setters.

Are all these still on the payroll?

Yes.

What did this exercise cost?

According to the contract, taxpayers were forking out €27,000 a week for the contract but by the end of June 2017, election month, the cost ballooned to €62,000 a week. Over a 12-month period, this recruitment cost taxpayers an extra €1.8 million.

Was this the only case?

No. The NAO found similar cases of abuse in at least another contract related to cleaning services, which is still in force through a direct order, against procurement rules.

The Times of Malta is informed that the same system is being adopted for other contracts including for the supply of nurses, carers and security personnel at the same institution.