The health minister’s inner circle

An investigation by The Critical Angle Project shows that health minister Jo Etienne Abela, who previously served as a consultant surgeon in several local hospitals, has allowed a culture of favouritism to fester within the country’s ailing health sector.

Multiple sources shed light on at least three known cases in which the health minister – who took over from his disgraced predecessor Chris Fearne in January – helped expedite the careers of individuals from his inner circle, two of whom were appointed to executive positions.

These sources are entirely independent of each other and their claims were corroborated accordingly. They were granted anonymity by this website to share sensitive information because of their fear of retaliation.

This website also sent questions directly to the health minister to obtain his response to this investigation’s findings. In spite of several urgent reminders, those questions remained unanswered by publication time.

One significant example involves a surgeon named Rebecca Dalli.

A photo of Rebecca Dalli. Photo: Facebook

This website is informed that Dalli exerts undue influence within her workplace because of a close connection with the minister. The personal association dates back to when Abela was Dalli’s tutor at the University of Malta. The minister holds the position of visiting senior lecturer at the institution. Dalli learned her craft at the same consultancy firm Abela previously ran as one of Mater Dei Hospital’s consultant surgeons.

Though sources with direct knowledge of the matter all noted that the relationship is a poorly kept secret within Mater Dei’s corridors, serious questions were raised about conflict of interest that is implicit in the relationship. Junior and senior hospital staffers alike filed formal complaints about this relationship, citing a lack of professionalism and the obvious conflict of interest that arises from it.

Her direct superior – the chairperson of the department, Clifford Caruana – is a known close friend of the minister. He was appointed to his new position last month. This website is informed that the former deputy head of department is twice as experienced as Caruana and was considered a sure bet for this position. In spite of this, the post was awarded to the minister’s friend.

Sources told this website that Abela, in part through having installed a close confidante as her boss, “constantly accommodates” Dalli at her workplace and that “nobody bats an eyelid” about it.

Caruana’s predecessor had received multiple complaints about Dalli’s relationship with the minister. The complaints were filed back when the minister was a consultant surgeon running his own firm at the hospital. Though Caruana’s predecessor had taken action to address the situation by quietly transferring Dalli elsewhere, it seems the conflict of interest has only grown even more significant now that Abela runs the entire ministry.

This investigation raises questions about the judgement of a powerful minister who oversees an annual budget of over €1.5 billion and is responsible for the thousands of medical and administrative employees who form the backbone of our national healthcare services.

A rapid reshuffle

The minister’s penchant for favouritism is most visible in the raft of executive changes within the ministry’s sizeable workforce since he took over the health portfolio.

At the start of this executive reshuffle, several high-flying potential candidates within the hospital’s hierarchy were encouraged to apply. In spite of this seemingly open process, Caruana and other individuals known to be close to the minister were selected for the posts, beating more experienced competition.

This fueled a widely held perception among senior staffers that the ‘openness’ of the process was merely cosmetic.

In October, Abela appointed another former trainee of his – Santhosh Kumar Rajasekeran – as the health ministry’s chief executive coordinator, responsible for all clinical services and projects.

Up until that same month, the ministry’s Central Procurement and Supplies Unit went through severe executive turmoil after a total of four chief executives were hired and fired by the minister in as many months.

In August 2022 – a few months after being sworn in as minister for active ageing at the time – The Shift exposed how Abela appointed his sister-in-law as his private secretary. The contract was issued less than 48 hours after he was sworn in as a member of Cabinet for the first time.

Abela’s brother was employed by the Gozo ministry in yet another phantom job arranged by beleaguered minister Clint Camilleri, who is still facing calls for his resignation following the Clayton Bartolo – Amanda Muscat saga.