Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/219723
25 Opinion maltatoday, SUNDAY, 1 DECEMBER 2013 Claudine Cassar Letting the light in R egular readers of this column will have noticed that I have missed quite a few Sundays. In fact it has been a month, if not more, since I last opined about something on MaltaToday. I spent the last month lying flat on my back, the victim of a slipped disk. For the last four weeks I received the care and support of wonderful doctors and nurses, both in the public and the private health system. My total dependence on these health professionals brought John Dalli's call for a revamp of how our health care system works even closer to home. There has never been any doubt in my mind that the hospital should be run professionally and more importantly, independently. The employment from the private sector of Joe Caruana as CEO a few years ago was a step in the right direction. It is clear that Caruana is doing a great job – he has changed many work practices and improved efficiency at the hospital considerably. However, politicians are not the type to relinquish power and control and it is clear that their interference is making his very difficult job even harder. How exactly can a CEO be held responsible for the running of an entity the size of Mater Dei, with over 3,000 employees, spending hundreds of millions of euros a year, treating tens of thousands of patients a year, when he is not given full control? The government Every time I hear our PM call for political responsibility I feel like calling back – you're the one in power now, the political responsibility is yours! abolished posts such as that of medical director, created new departments and even appointed department directors. Isn't this supposed to be the CEO's job? Doesn't a CEO usually create his management structure and choose his management team? What happens if Joe Caruana thinks that one of his senior managers appointed by the government is not delivering, or worse still, incompetent? How can a CEO manage an entity effectively if he cannot negotiate pay packages, working hours and conditions for his staff? The curse of ministerial interference is not limited to Mater Dei. One of my husband's colleagues holds a post in public health and shared with me some of his professional frustrations. After working for months investigating and costing the benefit (or lack of) of a new procedure, a wellresearched and responsible recommendation was made – only to be then totally overturned by the minister. What makes things worse is that the top doctors at the ministry are then made to justify the minister's decision, even though they don't agree with it. It is clear that our new crop of administrators is trying to deflect criticism by highlighting mistakes made in the past. Joseph Muscat is making repetitive calls for "someone to take political responsibility" for PN's past failures. However, this is ludicrous. The Nationalist Party has already been punished for their mismanagement of Mater Dei – they were absolutely trounced at the polls and were booted out of power. This is not Mao's China, where "public self-criticism" is de rigueur! Every time I hear our PM call for political responsibility I feel like calling back – you're the one in power now, the political responsibility is yours! Total transparency is the key to everything. Our money was spent on the famous Johns Hopkins report. We paid for that report out of our taxes, so why is it not available to the public? Is it because, much like the previous administration, this government does not want to publicly admit that it does NOT want to tackle areas that desperately need to be resolved, due to political expediency? Our hospital should be audited by a foreign entity every couple of years. Malta is so small that any expert in any medical field would be essentially auditing himself, so we need somebody completely independent, without any strings being pulled from above. We should follow the example of the UK in transparency. The recommendations of public health specialists on how we spend our money should be made public. The minister is free to make any decision he pleases – however it should be clear when and if his decisions go counter to the recommendations made by the experts. He can decide to spend money on something which was deemed ineffective or too expensive, or axe something which is beneficial and cost effective. But at least his decisions will be public and he can be scrutinised accordingly, and not make other people shoulder his decision. That is political responsibility! The same should be done with all CEOs of public entities. Any request to the government should be done publicly. British newspapers are full of declarations by CEOs and managers complaining of lack of funds and questioning government decisions. We need to know who is hampering efficiency. Ministerial interference has hampered our economy year after year, government after government. We are stuck with inefficient and loss-making public enterprises such as Enemalta, WSC and Air Malta. The latter in particular is a perfect example, where a profit making nearmonopoly was ruined as the management was made to employ more people than it required. They couldn't even choose their own cleaners or baggage handlers! It seems that the "bicca cuc Malti" ruining our national airline was sitting pretty in parliament. My solution to everything: devolve and privatise where possible, and make everything transparent for everyone to see. Commissioning reports is not going to get us anywhere if the administration is not willing to get the bull by the horns and resolve the situation. And let's be clear – resolving the situation does not mean going undercover and cancelling tenders and "developing systems in-house". It means opening the curtains and letting the light shine in. Claudine Cassar is the Managing Director of Alert Communications Ltd B y m e a n s o f a d e c r e e g iv e n , b y th e F ir s t H a ll C iv il C o u r t o n th e 1 7 th O c to b e r, 2 0 1 3 in th e r e c o r d s o f th e S w o r n A p p lic a tio n , in th e n a m e s A P S B a n k L im ite d v s M a r io B e z z in a , A p p lic a tio n N u m b e r 8 9 0 /1 3 A F , th e fo llo w in g p u b lic a tio n w a s o r d e r e d fo r th e p u r p o s e o f s e r v ic e o f th e r e s p o n d e n t in te r m s o f A r tic le 1 8 7 ( 3 ) e t. o f C a p . 1 2 . B y m e a n s o f a S w o r n A p p lic a tio n f ile d in th e F ir s t H a ll C iv il C o u r t, A p p lic a tio n N u m b e r 8 9 0 /1 3 A F , in th e n a m e s A P S B a n k L in tite d ( R e g N u m b e r C 2 1 9 2 ) v s M a r io B e z z in a ( ID N u m b e r 6 1 6 5 IM ) o n th e 1 7 th S e p te m b e r, 2 0 1 3 , th e a p p lic a n t c o m p a n y . a s k e d th is H o n o u r a b le C o u r t w ith o u t p r o c e e d in g to a h e a r in g in te r m s o f A r tic le s 1 6 7 -1 7 0 o f C a p . 1 2 o f th e L a w s o f M a lta . 1 . T o c o n d e m n th e r e s p o n d e n t to p a y th e a p p lic a n t c o m p a n y th e s u m o f fo r t y th o u s a n d th r e e h u n d r e d th ir t y th r e e E u r o a n d s ix t y c e n t s '( E u r o 4 0 , 3 3 3 . 6 0 ) r e p r e s e n t in g a s f o r t h ir t y f o u r t h o u s a n d fo u r h u n d re d s e v e n ty E u ro a n d fo r ty o n e c e n ts (E u ro 3 4 ,4 7 0 .4 1 ) b a la n c e d u e o n O v e r d r a f t A c c o u n t n u m b e r 2 0 0 0 0 0 5 8 3 3 - 5 ) c o p y a t ta c h e d D o c A , a n d f iv e th o u s a n d e ig h t h u n d r e d s ix t y th r e e E u r o a n d n in e t e e n E u r o c e n t s ( E u r o 5 , 8 6 3 .1 9 ) , b a la n c e d u e o n th e a c c o u n t In te r e s t D is p o s a l w ith n u m b e r ( 2 0 0 0 1 0 7 0 5 1 - 0 ) b e s id e s fu r th e r in te r e s t fr o m th e 1 s t J u ly , 2 0 1 3 till th e e f fe c tiv e p a y m e n t o f th ir t y fo u r th o u s a n d fo u r h u n d r e d s e v e n t y E u r o a n d fo r t y o n e c e n ts ( E u r o 3 4 ,4 7 0 .4 1 ) , b a la n c e d u e o n O v e r d r a f t A c c o u n t n u m b e r (2 0 0 0 0 0 5 8 3 3 -5 ). W ith c o s ts a s d e m a n d e d a n d w ith fu r th e r in te r e s t w ith e f fe c t fr o m th e 1 s t J u ly , 2 0 1 3 till th e d a te o f e f fe c tiv e p a y m e n t a g a in s t th e r e s p o n d e n t fr o m n o w s u m m o n e d s o th a t a r e fe r e n c e to h is e v id e n c e b e m a d e . In te r p e lla n t: A P S B a n k L im ite d - A P S C e n tr e , T o w e r S tr e e t, B ir k ir k a r a B K R 4 0 1 2 . T w o S e r v ic e s : M a r io B e z z in a (1 ) 3 A , G a r d e n R e s . T r iq in - N u ta r Z a r b ' H 'A t t a r d . ( 2 ) K a r g o H o u s e , T r iq S a n G w a k k in , 1 - Im r ie f te l, B ir k ir k a r a . T h e S w o r n A p p lic a tio n in th e n a m e s A P S B a n k L im ite d v s B e z z in a M a r io , a p p lic a tio n n u m b e r 8 9 0 /1 3 A F , h a s b e e n p u t o f f fo r h e a r in g to th e 4 th D e c e m b e r, 2 0 1 3 a t 9 .0 0 a .m . R e g is tr y o f th e S u p e r io r C o u r ts , to d a y 1 8 th N o v e m b e r, 2 0 1 3 . A D V . F R A N K P O R T E L L I L L .D . F o r th e R e g is tr a r C iv il C o u r ts a n d T r ib u n a ls