Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1510271
2 NEWS maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 25 OCTOBER 2023 2 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 The inquiry, led by retired Judge Geoffrey Va- lenzia, found several shortcomings that led to Fi- no's disappearance. A summarised version of the inquiry reads that the night shift at the ward did not carry out their duty with diligence by failing to monitor those in their care. Fino was discovered to be missing at 8am on 28 June after staff working the day shift went to bathe Fino but could not find him. They in- formed the management, who then contacted the night shift workers. These workers said they saw Fino in his ward at 5:45am. However, a patient who shared the same ward as Fino said the man was not in his ward at 3am. This was corroborated by CCTV footage which showed Fino walking by Lidl supermarket in Luqa at 3:17am. "Besides owing to their [night shift] negligence in properly reporting the disappearance of Mr Fino they consequently misled all those who were involved in the search with precious time being lost allowing Mr Fino to wander far from the facility," the report found. Among those charged will be social assistance worker Robert Belli, one of the employees sus- pended after the incident. He had described the internal inquiry as being "very superficial". Belli had submitted a written reply on 3 August 2022, in which he rejected any insinuation that he was to blame and contested his precautionary suspension. Belli complained that then St Vincent De Paul CEO Josianne Cutajar had failed to justify the alleged urgency of the social assistance worker's suspension. Another person who had been suspended and later reinstated was nurse Rhys Xuereb. The MUMN had said at the time Xuereb was made a scapegoat for system failures and inadequate staffing levels. Police have issued charges for involuntary homicide and neglect Carmelo Fino's death MATTHEW FARRUGIA THERE is no police investigation into the 2015 privatisation of three Maltese hospitals, Opposition leader Bernard Grech said after filing a police report on the deal. Grech and Nationalist MP Adrian Delia met with the police commission- er Angelo Gafà on Tuesday to submit another formal request to investigate the privatisation deal after Monday's damning confirmation of the annul- ment of government's privatisation deal. Following the meeting, Grech ad- dressed the media stating that Gafà had confirmed that no police investigation on the hospitals' deal is underway. Gafà said that police are still waiting for the conclusion of the ongoing mag- isterial inquiry before investigating, Grech told the press. The PN leader stated that there is no obligation to wait for such a conclusion before police start investigating the case. "We will keep applying pressure so that justice is served," Grech concluded, reminding the public of next Sunday's national protest that was announced following Monday's confirmation. Grech and Delia held a press confer- ence in front of the police headquarters earlier on Tuesday to pressure Gafà into investigating the hospitals deal. Speaking to the media before entering the building, Grech stated that there was no valid reason whatsoever behind the delay in police investigations. Grech said that police did not have to wait for the sentence to be confirmed, saying that police could have conduct- ed its own investigation. Meanwhile, Delia said Gafà's failure to investigate the deal would make him complicit in the fraud behind the scan- dal. About an hour after entering police headquarters, Grech, Delia, and PN MP Karol Aquilina lambasted Gafà for not being in the office a day after the damning confirmation. Indeed, the politicians were initial- ly kept waiting, as Gafà was out of office . However, the commissioner was seen entering the headquarters at noon. The Nationalist MPs went back into the building to file their po- lice report. Police are not investigating the hospitals deal - Grech PN leader Bernard Grech (centre), addressing the press outside Police headquarters, flanked by Adrian Delia (left) and Karol Aquilina (right) DAR Saura, a home for the elderly in Rabat, will cease to operate by next spring with residents to be relocated, the Curia said on Tuesday. "In recent years, it has become clear that, without major refurbishment, Dar Saura is no longer able to deliver the quality of life its 45 residents de- serve, and the Church will therefore be providing better alternatives for them," Archdiocese Administrative Secretary Michael Pace Ross said. The Curia acknowledged that this move might cause some disruption in the lives of the patients but promised it would be doing everything possible to make the transition as smooth and stress-free as possible. "Their welfare remains our top prior- ity, and we will be taking care of them," Pace Ross added. The Archdiocese will also be assist- ing the residence's professional and dedicated full-time staff with re-en- gagement within the care sector, where there is significant demand for their services. Pace Ross provided details of the move to residents, relatives, and staff during a meeting at the Church-run residence during which he explained that Dar Saura would cease operations by the spring of next year. Following its closure, the 17th-cen- tury grade one listed building —which originally served as a hospital for people suffering from chronic diseases— will be refurbished and used for other pur- poses which are yet to be determined. Elderly home Dar Saura to close next spring, residents to be relocated