PL Spokesperson for Health Dr Marie Louise Coleiro Preca described as shameful and arrogant the way the Health Ministry reacted to calls for an explanation regarding the future of students graduating from university courses in B.Sc. Nursing and Radiology.

Ms Coleiro Preca accused the Health Ministry of trying to camouflage its discrimination between the successful students.

The PL Spokesperson said the Ministry’s accusation of PL of trying to put Public Service Commission (PSC) in a bad light was pure lies. Dr Coleiro Preca said that in her original statement, she never referred to any stage of the recruitment process. It is widely known that the PSC’s job is to evaluate results passed on to it by the Selection Board and ultimately it is the Prime Minister who decides on PSC’s recommendations, she said.

Dr Coleiro Preca said that no one can ignore what the Health Ministry said in its first statement, mainly that the interview procedure prior to the publication of the results had to be adhered to in order to put the process of seeking employment on the fast track. In such circumstances, she said, one has to question why such a procedure was never used before even though the nurse and radiographer shortages were ongoing for a number of years, so much so that the Minister for Health himself is on record on the issue:

TIMES  OF  MALTA – February 17, 2009:  “A shortage of radiographers and pathologists has been identified by the health authorities as one reason behind the long waiting lists in both outpatient services and acute care.”

THE  MALTA  INDEPENDENT – February 12, 2012:  “The digital X-ray machine we have at Mosta Health Centre, which is directly linked to Mater Dei, is in operation until 19.00h. We cannot use it on a 24-hour basis because we do not have enough radiographers.”

Meanwhile, the Health Ministry, in a futile exercise trying to make one and all believe that 10- or 20-minute interviews have more weight than results achieved after a four-year academic and practical courses, ignored completely the issue of radiographers, Dr Coleiro Preca said. PL challenges the Health Ministry to say where else this procedure is applied.

“This attitude serves only to demotivate our students and the Health Ministry must be transparent and put everyone’s mind at rest that only meritocracy safeguards justice,” concluded Dr Coleiro Preca.