Has Joseph changed the rules on private practice?
Published:
March 21, 2013 at 7:59pm
The health minister, Godfrey Farrugia – is he still calling on private patients?
Somebody called Clyde sent in this comment in defence of Godfrey Farrugia (in response to somebody who criticised him). If it’s true, then he hasn’t helped him but rather the contrary.
Ministers and parliamentary secretaries are not permitted private practice or any other form of work outside their government responsibilities.
Yes M he is. in fact only up untill yesterday did my mother called him. Guess what? 30 minutes later the door bell rang, and guess what-there he was with his friendly smile serving as a doctor.
90 Comments Comment
Leave a Comment
Kemm hu tuba. Trid tkun Laburist insomma biex tikteb xi haga hekk. It backfired.
TVHEMM – Tista ma taqbilx maghna, imma tista tinhadem minnha.
Labour is ‘sejf’ for business.
Malta Taghna Lkoll … minbarra ta’ dawk li mhumiex maghna.
That rule of not to continue with their private practice was done away with by Joseph, it was Gonzi’s baby after all (€500 rise per week). That’s why they accepted the salary without the rise.
Now we stand a good chance to see Mallia defending in court , Roderick Galdes at Mepa and Scicluna doing some consultancies.
Shouldn’t ministers and PSes make a declaration of assets and whatnot?
Yes. The Prime Minister has already declared that the code of ethics for ministers and parliamentary secretaries needs a total overhaul. Take that to read that it is to be thrown overboard.
But while the code is being overhauled it should still be applicable unless specifically declared otherwise.
So the smiling Health Minister is till a GP while camping out in the Emergency Department at Mater Dei Hospital. Absolute amateurs, all of them.
Entertainment guaranteed and we are still not even in the first 2 weeks of this pathetic government.
Totally agree with you, dear paleblue my foot.
Enjoy it until t lasts. This blog is soon over. We shall close it.
Daqshekk hi. TVHemm is knocked off, Soon lou bondi. And I hope even this shitty blog. U daphne toqod iddar frustrata
I can’t believe you would want to live in a country like that. Why not move to North Korea while you’re at it?
Ghax jimmissja lil Igniatius, Ian – ma jkollux min inehhilu is-suf, u…il-kumplament insomma.
Knock knock!
Who’s there?
Alex Sciberras Trigona.
Alex Sciberras Trigona, who?
Knock, knock, knocking on North Korea’s door . . . .
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Iy0-pZAgM4
Alex Sceberras Trigona has very good contacts in North Korea. He might be able to help MatthewS:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/128167661/Alex-Sceberras-Trigona-Signs-a-Secret-Agreement-With-North-Korea
Hey cowboy, I bet you look cool with your mirrored sunglasses on.
You know, the ones with the mirrors on the inside.
Do you realize that there is no way you or anybody else can legally close this or anybody else’s blog? And that includes the government.
Taghna llkoll! Ja tuba
Tuba bħalu mhux tagħna lkoll. Tuba bħalu ommu biss tridu.
You close one place we open a hundred.
And we will all live happily ever after. Ignorance is bliss Matthew2.
This is all a tad scary to be honest. I had no doubts that Labour would throw its weight around when it comes to public broadcasting, but I thought that they would have proceeded with a bit more tact.
If I remember correctly, Muscat had said that he wants “broadcasting” to encompass the written media as well. The very fact that broadcasting has been cast under justice and home affairs is definitely an omen of things to come.
Mallia has gone on record in saying that the media needs to be held more legally accountable for its actions. I can’t wait to see what juicy legislative proposals he comes up with in this respect.
Matthew2: xempju tal-injoranza grassa u tipiku Mintoffjan.
Besides, I thought that the cancellation of tvhemm was an “administrative decision”, not politically motivated and not instigated by the ministry.
At least that’s what your buddies are saying.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130321/local/tv-hemm-knocked-off-air-ministry-denies-involvement.462420
Really, close it? Hsibtu xi kazin, taqbad u taghlaq blog?
Li kontra il ligi ma tghaddilekx minn mohhok, jew tghaddilek imma ma taghmilx differenza li kontra il-ligi?
Xi tridu jghaddi min mohhu? Nehhija min rasek li dan il-patella ghandu mohh biex jahseb.
Matthew2… mela nsejt illi dak li qghadt iccapcaplu qallek illi Malta taghna lkoll?
..u lanqas li kieku.. ma tistax habib ghax l-Internet huwa verament taghna lkoll.
Freedom of speech and Labour never went hand in hand.
Don’t blame Labour.
How hard would it have been to repeal criminal defamation over the last 15 years?
A bloke was jailed for it today.
Matthew2, jaqaw int il-bartender tal-kazin Laburista ta’ Hal Safi? Ghodost fil-‘bin’ u sibt xi blokka bajda w doqt ftit minnha?
Ara veru l-Partit Laburista mimli bil-gdur, neqsin minn mohhom u qabda dilettanti li jaghmlu kollox ta daqqa w igri!
Issa naraw kemm ha jorhsu d-dawl u l-ilma, aktar u aktar jekk Konrad ma jsibx vapuri biex igibu l-gass lejn Malta jew ikollu jhallas id-doppju kull vjagg.
There was once under Mintoff’s reign the suppression of opposition and the free media and this took various forms. At one stage it escalated and had become violent so much that many thought Malta was burning.
Will history repeat itself?
No.
Muscat is no Mintoff.
Malta is not an Arab satellite.
Next question?
“At one stage it escalated and had become violent so much that many thought Malta was burning.”
Well, The Times did ACTUALLY burn.
And yet, in those horrible days of the Mintoffian suppression, when many thought Malta was burning, the majority of voters who opted for change was a mere 4,000 +.
I am really afraid how the next generations will describe Gonzi’s premiership then, with 35,000 + opting for change. I will leave the adjectives up to you.
Don’t these assholes know that every word they utter is being monitored and recorded by the EU authorities? The restriction of free speech is restricted. Live with it.
Kompli hekk ta, halli turuna kemm il MLP ma tbiddilx. Il-hdura li ghandkom hija inkredibbli.
You do know that the latest places where such attitude was rampant was North Africa, right? Where such blogs had a part in the Arab Spring? I’m sure it’s still the case in North Korea.
Well, of course not, you look anywhere beyond this small island or beyond the Labour Party (or rather, Joseph) for your (limited) knowledge. Of course, freedom of speech and true democracy are alien concepts to you.
Matthew2 – Malta taghna lkoll- jekk taqblu maghna biss. Dik demokrazija! Kieku l-injoranza kienet elektriku, bin-nies li ivvutaw lil muviment. m’hemmx ghalfejn P.S. iehor, anzi konna nzarmaw li ghandna.
Injoranza tboss! Il-veru miskin.
So Malta is not taghna lkoll. What the heck are you saying ‘we shall close it’- is this some form of dictatorship you are advocating ? You are either with us or we will destroy you. Pure communist shit coming from a pure communist shit.
So Joseph Muscat now runs the internet, does he?
The only blogs over which he has authority are the hopelessly inept ones run by Labour Party representatives who have now been installed in government positions.
Or perhaps you think he’ll follow the example of his friends in China and shut down unfavourable systems, in defiance of the principles and laws safeguarding free speech in European states?
He’s already got an agreement in place: http://www.scribd.com/doc/128130324/Joseph-Muscat-says-he-signed-an-agreement-with-China-on-Malta-s-behalf-it-Torca-18APR2010
Muscat’s a great admirer of China’s draconian policing of its people. Here he is, a member of the European Parliament, openly admiring the Chinese government for supppressing dissent and crticism:
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20080331/opinion/tax-deadline.202249
Matthew2 ha nkellmek bil-Malti halli tifhem. Meta tghid “We shall close it”, tista’ jekk joghgbok tghid min intom? Nirringrazzjak b’il quddiem ghar-risposta gentili tieghek
U biex inzid malli qal ‘Dumbo’, bir-rispett kollu!
Tvhemm off air! But Franco jahfrilhom wkoll! OMG.
http://www.francodebono.com/2013/03/21/hemm-tv/
[Daphne – What was it? He’s back to his old trick of writing something and deleting it almost immediately (probably when the medication kicks in).]
Yeah it’s a similar phenomenon to ‘drunk-dialling’ and hanging up.
You guys gotta be rapido with the old screen print.
Here’s a cached version of the web page:
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://www.francodebono.com/2013/03/21/hemm-tv/
No wonder he was quick to delete it. Manwel Mallia’s ministry went to great pains to deny any involvement but Franco gave the game away.
Kif tista’ ma tkunx Nazzjonalist meta taqra dal-hmerijiet. Franco Laburist minghajr ma jammetti.
It is now loading again.
The cached version is different to current version.
What’s wrong with being a government minister in your spare time?
Imagine the fuck up if they were governing full-time.
To Matthew 2
That’s very funny, Matthew. Crack another one, please. I’m in hysterics
Gaddafi tried, and failed to shut down Internet in his country. How are ‘you’ or those who you associate yourself with going to shut down a blogger’s site?
Do elaborate…
Your eloquence and democratic principles are impressive.
I really think you should apply for the speaker’s job unless, just maybe, this is already taken. Labour’s true colour was never white.
Maybe he did not charge for the visit. So if the minister sees an accident on the road he cannot stop to treat those injured, because that wold be private practice too!
[Daphne – Whether he charged a fee or not is irrelevant. He is not allowed to make private calls. Stopping to treat a person injured in an accident is mandatory, besides being completely different and certainly not private practice.]
You don’t have to be a qualified doctor to assist someone involved in an accident, if you have basic first aid knowledge you might buy the victim some time before paramedics are on the scene.
and if things go wrong , guess who could get sued for damages later?
Daphne,
Email address, please.
[Daphne – [email protected]]
Issa m’hemmx bzonn tmur l-isptar, izda cempel lil ministru tas-sahha, u jkun hemm 30 min.
Dnub li ma dahhluhiex fil-programm elettorali (sorry, Roadmap) tal-Lejber, bhal li jgibulek il-pilloli d-dar.
This is the problem with political parties gravitating towards electable candidates, such as GPs and lawyers, for vote-grabbing purposes.
More often than not, their skill set is incongruent with the competences required to manage ministerial offices – they go from years of running one-man bands, to overseeing sizeable operations.
Nobody wins. The country inevitably ends up being run by likeable, but incompetent people, and their loyal clients, the ones that vote them into parlament in the first place, lose their trusted, service provider.
This is particularly sad when communities lose exceptional medical professionals such as Dr. Godfrey Farrugia.
How stupid of YOU Daphne.
It is illegal to charge patients, not to work privately.
For all you know, he went there and charged them nothing.
[Daphne – It’s still private practice and it’s still not allowed. It’s OBVIOUSLY NOT about the money. Why does everything have to be explained in great detail to Labour voters. So exhausting.]
FYI.
Never did I vote Labour.
To the contrary, I always voted PN.
I abstained in this election, mostly due to the fact that I advanced multiple demands to the PN administration, asking them to distance themselves from this hamallata of a blog.
But they ignored me.
Fredo, you broke my heart.
Mr. Don ras Corleone* (*or something to the same tune), if the PN had distanced itself from this, or other blogs, it would have been making a wild statement against the expression of free speech!
Anyone is free to speak their mind. For heck’s sake, I can set up a blog in a few minutes and start thrashing any party I want to. Do I expect the party I’m rooting for to disassociate itself with my blog? Hell no!
Just as I don’t expect any party to disassociate itself with those who write on Facebook in favour of one party or another. If your canine brain is stuck in Mintoff’s Socialist 70s, where censorship was alive and kicking (literally kicking), then either wake up and smell the Arabica, or cease your incoherent ramblings for evermore, moron.
And yet, you still come here. Is there medication for the addiction? or a support group?
How do you interpret “distancing themselves”? By any chance, do you mean banning it?
Don – JUST DON’T READ IT! That way you’d no longer need to ‘advance multiple demands’ to the PN administration.
Never voted Labour? Well you sure have a typical Labour mind.
How childish. How would ‘distancing themselves’ have prompted you to vote PN? You’re just another Laburist who’s afraid to vote.
You really have to explain everything to some people..
It’s called exchanging of favours. Sometimes, money is not required to get paid. You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours.
Matthew2, kif tista taghlaq website? Nahseb iktar turi kemm ghandek mohhok maghluq
Daffie – no it’s not private practice.
If one exerts one’s profession without charging for it, it can be regarded as an exchange between friends.
Don’t be stupid.
[Daphne – Still not allowed. ‘Jezercita’ does not translate as ‘exerts’. The word you’re looking for is ‘practises’, and no, it’s not allowed, whether for love, money or friendship.]
Are you people for real?
You made a meal out of the fact that Tonio Fenech accepted a cheap, home-made clock gifted to him by an amateur who’s not involved in business but you don’t see anything wrong in a minister working privately.
If the doctor didn’t charge, the situation is actually worse. The patient still owes the doctor a pound of flesh.
‘stupid’
Yeah – in this exchange that would be you, Don.
Matthew2, publish your name and surname, or you don’t have balls?
Ara veru kaz ta sibli Laburist intelligenti, Don Corleone. Kemm int slow.
Laburist intelligenti? Fejn?
‘Laburist intelligenti’ – A fine example of an oxymoron
They never existed and never will!
Matthew 2, It’s the year 2013 not the 80s. Or could it be that you re still stuck in one of those repeater classes? Take a reality test.
If Don Corleone was as stupid as you are he would not have lasted more than one day in the mafia world.
Wiseguys don’t last long in the mafia, they are either imprisoned for serious crimes or made to disappear by their own peers
Practice of a profession has nothing to do with charging a fee. Giving professional advice is just that. It can never be regarded as ‘an exchange between friends,’ irrespective of whether fees were charged or not.
@Don Corleone
Not even the air we breathe is free
@Matthew2
Aktar ‘l isfel minni hawn hanut ibiegh katnazzi, serraturi, cwievet, ktajjen u kollox li hemm bzonn biex issakkar u taghlaq. Jekk dan mhux bizzejjed hawn hafna ditti jipprovdu servizz ta’ tiskir. Imma ghaggel ta ghax kollox qed jinhataf. U ghadek ma rrispondejtx.
What is this doctor? Doing house visits for free, Mother Theresa ?
@Chicken
Lejber is-sejf ghal business. Ihanxrek l-anqas taf kif
The stench of law breaking, cronyism, badgering and intimidation, after only two weeks, has become overwhelming.
We’re about to enter the cesspit, where, it is said, ‘when you’re up to your lips, pray no one makes a wave.’
Matthew2, jaqaw int ma temminx fil-liberta tal-kelma jew issa ghax hemm il-partit tieghek fil-gvern ma tridx min jikktikah.
Don Coreleone why do you keep reading this HAMMALLATA of a blog? Go find a pepe one.
So the minister has installed his office at Mater Dei. Clearly another decision taken at the Farrugia kitchen table by Marlene for Godfrey. Joseph has lost control.
And what about Konrad Mizzi? Is he going to get a 500 Euro danger money salary increase for setting up office in the cancer factory. Or just a gong for bravery in the face of enemy emissions?
We can’t leave Chris Fearne alone in the building can we?
Get rid of any potential influence and misinformation. Now that Franco’s out of the way, where he’ll be more than useful, Mercieca ie.
Yep, definitely Marlene.
Unbelievable. In all probability the patient was from Dr. Farrugia’s district. Thirty minutes would take me from Birzebbugia to Cirkewwa and back, his district happens to be way in between. Cannot say that he did not take his time as to whether he should call on his patient or not.
Was that during or after office hours? If Minister Farrugia’s to put in extra working time, shouldn’t that be invested in dealing with the rest of his ministerial portfolio, now that he’s spending ‘up to 12 hours a day’ in the emergency department at one of Malta’s several hospitals?
Tassew! Min jaf x’kariga se jaghtuh lil Alex Sceberras Trigona?