Kicking the bucket – literally
The Labour Party has some serious business to attend to where its minister-of-health-in-waiting, Anthony Zammit, is concerned. He categorically denies physically lashing out at a nurse in the operating theatre, and yet the Ministry of Health confirms that the nurse was examined in the A & E Department after the incident.
There are many cases of work colleagues, neighbours, spouses, partners, whatever, lying about physical attacks or making fabricated vindictive reports out of spite or vengeance, but this incident does not seem to be among them.
The nurse appears to have gone to A & E immediately, and the attack does not seem to have taken place in a context which would allow for lying or fabrication, because it involved an operating theatre, actual or potential witnesses and a very prominent surgeon-politician.
If it transpires that Anthony Zammit really did lash out at that nurse and has now lied about it, then he has only compounded his problems. People might be able to understand lashing out, even if they can’t condone it – but lying about it so blatantly, if the claims of being attacked turn out to be true, is another matter altogether. Lying to the public is a complete breach of trust, and it is particularly bad in a senior politician.
There are question marks over Zammit’s credibility already, after that unresolved matter – about which we have heard nothing further – in which he claimed to have been tied up in his bedroom and robbed by unknown men. Security cameras revealed that they had got in through the front door using a key, forcing Zammit to admit that his front-door key was in the possession of several people.
The Sunday Times, today
Surgeon MP denies kicking nurse during an operation
Health authorities probe allegations
Kurt Sansone
Surgeon Anthony Zammit has denied allegations that he kicked a nurse during a surgical operation last Thursday even though the health authorities have confirmed they received a written complaint about the incident.
“I categorically deny the allegations and the alleged wilful bodily harm that I am supposed to have caused the alleged victim,” Mr Zammit, who is the Labour Party’s health spokesman, said when contacted. He insisted he was not aware of any inquiry by the health authorities.
The nurse alleged that Mr Zammit took umbrage when she covered a patient’s chest at the start of the operation and went on to kick her and push a bucket towards her.
However, the surgeon said he was surprised to read about the allegations yesterday in the Nationalist daily newspaper, In-Nazzjon.
“I don’t even know if there’s an inquiry. You’re better informed than I am,” he told this newspaper yesterday.
A spokesman for the Health Ministry confirmed that last Thursday a nurse reported “verbally and in writing” the alleged aggression and disciplinary proceedings were initiated against the surgeon in accordance with Public Service Commission Regulations.
The Health Ministry also confirmed that after the incident the nurse was examined at the accident and emergency department.
Mr Zammit was to perform thyroid surgery on the lower part of the neck of a patient.
“The nurse came and covered the patient’s chest. I removed the gown and told the nurse that the chest had to be exposed since I might have to open the chest,” he said, explaining that in especially difficult thyroid cases that was a possibility.
“I then told her I should not be in theatre telling her what she should be doing,” Mr Zammit said, insisting he did not threaten the nurse.
If the allegations prove to be true Mr Zammit could be suspended without pay for up to five days according to the Public Service Management Code.
Meanwhile, Paul Pace, the president of the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses, said the union condemned all forms of “verbal and physical abuse” and insisted that if the allegations were proven “disciplinary action should be taken”.
He lamented that two months ago a nurse was verbally abused by another staff member at Mater Dei hospital and the health authorities took no action.
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Joey was unaware he was an hour late arriving at the airport and Tony does not know he kicked a nurse.
Collective amnesia. Who do they think they are kidding ?
And what about Jose Herrera and his f’gh.xx Gonzi?
Are these the type of MPs and future ministers Malta needs?
I know notin, I see notin, I did notin, – yeah yeah sure shultz.
“Lying to the public is a complete breach of trust, and it is particularly bad in a senior politician.”
What makes Mr. Zammit a senior politician? The fact that almost nobody knew about him just some months before the election, but then 24 months down the line he was put in the limelight by the media in three separate occasions?
[Daphne – No: the fact that he will be minister of health in three years’ time if that prat who left an entire planeload of passengers waiting for an hour wins the next general election.]
Without wanting to distract attention from the main topic of the story, which is shocking enough, there is another equally shocking question that needs answering: the quality of training received by nurses in operating theatres and in general.
why didn’t you say the quality of training received by doctors and other professionals in the medical field, in operating theatres and in general? Why call into question only NURSES? For you Sandra, is the nurse at fault? I dont know. Do you?
Hair-trigger temper appears to be a hallmark of Labour politicians. Scary.
Anthony Zammit is condescending towards colleagues and patients.
Sorry, I don’t agree with you on this one. you might have your own experiences. i cannot comment on the colleagues part, but I certainly never felt he was condescending with me as a patient/client. he has always treated me in an extremely human way.
Would I be correct in assuming that there would have been at least one witness – the anaesthetist? As far as I know, an anaesthetist should be present for the duration of the operation.
This person is always surrounded with strange stories!
How come this case is not being investigated by the Police?
@Riya, maybe it’s being investigated by the (in)famous Gadget.
I’m interested to know whether the nurse was a man or a woman.
She put him off, so the nurse must be a girl.
Read again – it was a female nurse. Real tough guy this one!
A woman. He would have been afraid to do that to a man lest he breaks into his house and ties him up……
A young woman, from what I know. But what difference does it make?
I am sure all full details of the story will be broadcast on One News. But they are not yet aware of this serious incident!
Hallina Profs, the look in your eyes says it all. Mill-banda l-ohra, I absolutely don’t agree with disciplinary actions, they can have reverse consequences. We are talking about a professor/surgeon here, not a factory worker/operator, with due respect to all employees.
Zuzu, why unequal treatment? All should be equal before the law – if anything the professor/surgeon should know better – what reverse consequences do you allude to?
One of the disciplinary actions that can be taken against Mr. Anthony Zammit (il-Profs!) if found guilty by the law courts, PSC or any other board is by the Medical Council. The result can be catastrophic for the surgeon because he can be erased from the Medical Register and /or heavily fined. You can ask Frank Portelli and Joanna van Ver Laat (sic) and this is public knowledge.
The Medical Council should be closed down. It only serves to cover up the misdeeds of doctors.
Gahan, can you give one example why the Medical Council should be closed down? If you are a medical or dental professional, you should know that the Medical Council regulates and registers besides controlling professional practitioners who malpractice and abuse their profession. In doing so, it is protecting patients.
To my knowledge, whenever a person is admitted to hospital after a crime the police should be informed immediately. Why was this incident kept secret since last Thursday?
What the hell does Mr Zammit knows about politics? He should be thrown out of politics. As far as his work as a surgeon is concerned, I have never heard any complaints about him, anzi, kulhadd ifahhru u huwa wiehed mill-aqwa surgeons li hawn.
It is a well known fact among all those who undergo medical training that most surgeons are to be treated with kid gloves unless one wants to be publicly humiliated in front of his’her peers.
However this is only the case with ‘old school’ surgeons, rather than those who received their training in the last 15 years or so. Similar incidents have been happening for many years but no one dares speak up, because of the reverential attitude with which many Maltese uphold senior members of the medical profession.
I totally admire the nurse involved in this case – here is an opportunity not to be missed. Any medical professional, surgeon or otherwise who does not respect his colleagues (and yes, a nurse or medical student is a colleague even though their knowledge/abilities do not match those of a surgeon) should undergo disciplinary measures like any other employee.
This happens in all top-notch medical centres around the world. But apparently in Malta, the public shudders if their beloved professuri are disciplined.
The ridiculous hierarchical system within the Maltese medical system is totally outdated and should be brought to an end.
I consider this incident as very bad. Professor Zammit seems to be another Mario Galea going through a break down! What is happening in our parliament? Has it always been like that, with MPs going through rough patches?
One other thing: if the surgeon was to operate on the thyroid, why did the nurse cover the patient’s chest? Does she think that surgeons think on certain terms when they are about to operate/operating? All our surgeons are prudent and serious enough to concentrate on their work, not less Prof Zammit.
Perhaps it has long been high time that our nurses are well trained in all fields of nursing! But then are we conferring the BSc nursing on the right people?
It is a shame to think that so many of the nurses with a BSc cannot speak/write good Maltese much less good English and, sorry to say, their IQ is nothing to write home about; however, they tend to believe that because they somehow managed to obtain a BSc they are all-knowing and so they become presumptuous.
There are two types of courses for nurses, the BSc and the diploma. Entry for the BSc requires a grade C or better in biology and chemistry if I am not mistaken, while the requirements for the diploma are more lenient.
I understand that because you are an MD you should try to defend your colleagues (everyone does) but please, there is no need to downgrade others.
Doctors need nurses, and nurses need doctors. Neither would function well without the other. There should be respect between colleagues, and not feelings of superiority and/or inferiority.
@Gear
Indeed you are right. We are talking about a high level professional. His punishment should be even worse than a factory worker/operator.
As stated by Kurt Sansone, If the allegations prove to be true, then it is only fair that he is punished, regardless of who he is. Five days without pay for such a surgeon is a joke – as if it makes a bloody difference for him.
Having said that, he has operated on me a number of times and despite our obvious political differences, I always found him to be very well mannered and really good at what he does. From my personal experience, he didn’t only do what he was paid to do. I also find him extremely charming and convincing in the theatre. Without saying anything, he tells you “it will be all right”. It’s all jokes and fun before an operation.
Something must have been wrong with him on the day – he normally chooses his aides, at least in a particular private hospital. If the allegations prove to be true, then like many of us mortals, he will have to shoulder the responsibility and pay for actions. Nonetheless, we shouldn’t discount his capabilities as surgeon.
DCG – agree that your storyline doesn’t tackle his professional capabilities but more his possible future ones as minister of health. Well done.
Instead of kicking buckets, why not give your readers some insight into the fry we’re in, with our government having had to guarantee €350 million of the eurozone’s bailout package for Greece, other than ‘loaning’ Greece €27 million which we ourselves have to borrow?
Add the extra interest to the €200 – €250 million annual interest we pay on our €4+ billion national debt and we could be building a Mater Dei a year instead.
And while you’re at it, you can also nudge your most useful idiot into telling us what he thinks of this madness. After all, he’s the one to potentially face the aftermath as Managing Director of Malta Inc. – or so the pundits say.
Hellloooo, DoKtor Joseph… what are your thoughts on the… er… never mind.
Here’s an eye-opener, though:
“Greece is having to go through the harshest fiscal cuts ever attempted in a developed economy under its EU-IMF plan, without offsetting exchange and monetary stimulus. The agony is pointless. The IMF admits that Greece’s public debt will rise from 120pc to 150pc of GDP by 2014. The country is already past the point of no return.
“Such a policy is not in the interests of Greek society. Greece should leave the euro and carry out a controlled default, sharing the pain with foolhardy creditors. The EU is preventing this cure: either to protect bond-holders – ie, French and German banks – giving them time to shuffle off their bad debts onto EU taxpayers; or because Brussels refuses as a matter of ideological principle to countenance any step back, ever, in the sacrosanct Project…”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/ambroseevans_pritchard/7756879/Europes-deflation-torture-is-a-gift-to-the-Far-Left.html
So you see, it’s not really a bailout, but more of a noose.
But compare the above to Ivan Camilleri’s risible piece on The Times some two weeks ago, when he painted the €27m loan as a sound investment. Or the piece concerning the €350 million guarantee, where he writes: “but this is not expected to cost taxpayers anything.”
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20100511/local/malta-to-guarantee-euro-350m-in-eu-deal
‘Eez justa guaranteee,’ Camilleri tells us. ‘Eez para la cumpa, nunca dinero go annywheeer – eeez for keecks… eez make believvv to calm de markett!’
That’s The Times of Malta. An idiotic newspaper for an idiotic country run by an idiotic pseudo-Establishment.
Oh, and I nearly forgot – kudos to Edward Scicluna MEP, PL, PES on his rapporteurship. With a eurozone apparatchik like that, who needs a representative?
Hi Kev, it’s me again!
Is it just my impression that I am the only one bothering to read, or at least to reply to, your comments?
You do make interesting points, especially the links to The Telegraph. Am I right in saying that you’re slowly turning into a Conservative?
And you do address interesting issues, though I notice that in doing so you deviate totally from Daphne’s post.
But then I suppose you can claim that your post is relevant, if you summarise it into something like “There is a hole in the bucket” or more simply, as one outgoing UK cabinet minister stated in a note left to his successor, “There is no money left.”
Indeed, I heard the Tories speak of ‘a hole’ in the country’s finances. Not a good omen, that. We all know what happens to hole-whinging administrations.
Concerning your questions, I go off topic because this blog is about what people want to read, not what they need to read. And, no, I am not “slowly turning into a Conservative”.
I have been a libertarian for almost two decades, now. Your question is very much within the left-right paradigm, which is mostly a charade, with insignificant variations of the same politics.
Only the politically dull compartmentalise themselves into left-right boxes, reading and believing only the media within the box they chose (or were born into). I read everything – gems are everywhere, as are concrete slabs and mudstone.
Kev, your comments are so provokative I will spend the night biting my nails if I do not comment.
You are right about whinging admins, especially those about holes. Remember Alfred Sant? His government got sucked into a black one in 1998.
I will not defend the Tories, but in fairness to them, they had pointed out the hole before they were sworn into Downing Street. Maybe you missed this April 2010 edition of the Telegraph (ok, it was not Ambrose), or maybe it was banned in Brussels:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financetopics/budget/5198777/Alistair-Darling-and-Gordon-Brown-vanish-down-budget-black-hole.html
The left and right are concepts, useful in communicating with other conceptual human beings, but I am more likely to resort to such directional language when helping tourists around. However, when used conceptually in politics and economics, practically everyone knows that left means spending other people’s money, whereas right means earning your own.
You’ve forgotten the Malta’s 100 million loan to the IMF, kev. It was part of the EU’s contribution to IMF, signed last February and mentioned by no-one. Even Joseph Muscat omitted it from his “the Government found for -” list.
The EMU is a sorry story in which everyone is to blame. Germany allowed the peripheral, weaker economies into the Eurozone to boost its exports. It also gave itself a competitive edge: the Germans cut labour costs and increased productivity, and through the Euro, denied the PIGS the possibility to devalue their currency. At the same time, the latter saw their labour costs rise and productivity stall. It was meant to fail, really.
The 750bn “shield”, without any debt restructuring, was pointless. And if any European politician is expecting Greece, or any other troubled country, to pay its mounting debts while deflating the economy, is either a lair, a prancing fool or both.
And you have missed Minister Fenech explaining this whole charade to the nation on TVM’s breakfast programme. “Dan bhaz-zwieg… qeghdin hemm ghat-tajjeb, u anke ghall-hazin.” At least he admitted that it’s a mess. But what he should have said is if he has secured any guarantee to the money we’re loaning Greece. The French are building nuclear power stations in Italy and selling frigates to the Greeks… but what are the small fry in the Eurozone getting in return?
Here are the links:
The Malta-IMF deal: http://www.imf.org/external/np/sec/pr/2010/pr1032.htm
Italy and the French power stations: http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKLDE6370QB20100408
Greece and the French frigates: http://in.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idINIndia-47148620100323
Well said, Macduff – it’s a well thought out game. I have not kept up to date with Maltese politics, unfortunately – too much European and global politics to keep up with.
There is a complete truth vacuum in Malta and something needs to be done. We cannot rely on either PN or PL, less on the slimy Greens, the neo-commies or Imperivm Evropa-in-tiny-hamlet. Events are moving fast now yet the Maltese are fast asleep to the realities impinging upon them.
Tista tghid li ma ghandiex agenda Julia Farrugia tal-gazzetta Illum kemm iddefenditu lill-profs. Imbaghad ta’ Illum u Malta today jghidu li huma indipendenti.
Is this the first story of its kind at Mater Dei?
I think we should take into consideration the possibility that this might have been a vindictive report in which the facts were grossly exaggerated.
Anthony Zammit had just scrubbed up to start the operation, and he could not touch anything other than his implements and the patient. I’m told that in this situation it is normal to use one’s legs/feet to draw a colleague’s attention. Now the kick might have been too hard, I don’t know. But I hear that the nurse was relatively new to the job, and that she covered the patient’s upper torso to conceal her breasts, which was unnecessary in those circumstances.
A nurse working in theatre must know exactly what s/he is doing. Bl-ebda mod ma qed nigustifika dak li qalet li ghamel is-surgeon.
Tinsiex li hemm il-Eurovision song contest u Malta kollha imkahhla mat-televixin bhalissa.
The stress which this incident will create makes me shudder even at the idea of being under surgeon Zammit’s knife, let alone accepting to be operated upon by him.
We are allowing politics to taint the reputations of professionals. The only victim will be the Maltese public.
Iltqajt mieghu illum l-isptar. Ma tantx deher inkwetat – naqa’ ma jzommx ruhu jkolli nghid. Imma orrajt.
Rajt professur fis-swali ta’ l-operazzjonijiet diehel biz-zarbun u l-libsa minflok l-overshoes u l-gigaga. Hadd ma kellmu.
Hazin….daqqa ta’ sieq biz-zarbun hija aghar minn wahda bl-overshoes…ghalkemm dejjem daqqa ta’ sieq tkun…
Let’s all concentrate on the Eurov ision “Tragedy”!
Not publishing my previous comment strenghtens my judgement against your blog you hippocrate .
I pity all those you are running by the ear and comment on your blog.
Hippocrate ?
Like this one ?
http://tinyurl.com/34c8omv
u halina nurse ghadha tibda se tghallem il profesur zammit kif pazjen ghandu ikun !! se hallat ragel bravu u fejaq hafna nies ma nurse ghadha hirga mil iskola,taf kemm idumu tghidu kontrih sa kemm ikolkhom bzonnu u tinsew il kulur politiku tieghu ghax waqt id dmir ta xogholu mhux se hares lejn il kulur,anzi nisugerixi li min ma jaqbelx mieghu politika u ikollu bzonn xi operazjoni f’intern ma jacetax li joperah hu hehe hekk nahseb!!! kulhadd irrid ifiq ,mela halluh jghamel xogholu