Health Minister cleared of nepotism in Gozo hospital recruitment

The Health Minister did not breach the Code of Ethics when his nephew and the nephew's girlfriend were employed at Gozo General Hospital, the Commissioner for Standards in Public Life concluded.

In a report published on Tuesday, Chief Justice Emeritus Joseph Azzopardi said he found “no basis to conclude that there was any nepotism” in the recruitment of Jo Etienne Abela’s 19-year-old nephew George Abela and his girlfriend Anastasia Cassar as clerks at the Gozo General Hospital.

He did, however, recommend changes in the way job vacancies for public entities advertised through private employment agencies should be communicated.

The Standards Commissioner had been asked to investigate the case by ADPD deputy chairperson Carmel Cacopardo after The Shift last year reported that George Abela and Anastasia Cassar had been employed at Gozo General Hospital through a private sub-contractor.

Responding to the accusations, the Health Minister told the Commissioner this was a “puerile media exercise … set up to sally my reputation.”

He insisted he only found out about the employments through a journalist from The Shift the day before the articles were published.

“I state on soul and conscience I had no knowledge, let alone influenced George Abela’s (or for that matter Anastacia Cassar’s) contractual employment,” Jo Etienne Abela said.

He added that he was not involved in the private lives of his relatives.

“I make it my business not to enquire about my own children’s private lives, let alone those of my nephews. And I am not about to start questioning young people’s on/off relationships, even if they happen to be my relatives.”

Abela and Cassar were appointed to work as clerks at the hospital through Signal 8, a private employment agency that has been contracted to find clerks, handymen and security guards for Gozo General Hospital for the past nine years.

Signal 8 Director Jovan Grech told the Commissioner he first got to know Abela in February 2024 when he asked him to sponsor a television programme he was producing on F Living. Abela later contacted Grech again asking if there were any vacancies at Gozo General Hospital. He later enquired on behalf of his girlfriend Cassar.

Both Grech and Signal 8 HR manager Kim Grech testified that the two candidates fulfilled the requirements for the job as they had the necessary qualifications. Applicants needed five O’Levels and a European Computer Driving Licence. Abela had eight O’levels, including one in computing.

The minister had told the commissioner that, while he did not know the identity of the contractor who employed his nephew, “and neither do I intend to enquire about it”, he felt Abela “met all the pre-requisites for the post”.

He added that Cassar also had “the necessary qualifications to apply for similar vacancies both in the public service and beyond”.

The company’s HR manager said it was difficult to find the right applicants and applications were often advertised “by word of mouth”. Vacancies never indicated which entity was the job for but were generic. Once the company felt the applicant met the right pre-requisites, they were put forward to the hospital who had the final say in the selection process.

The Commissioner said he had “proof” that both candidates had the necessary O’levels required for the job and found “no basis” of nepotism in their recruitment.

While concluding that there was no breach of ethics from the Health Minister, he did however raise concerns over the manner in which the job vacancies were being advertised.

He noted that if the government had to use an employment agency to recruit employees, the call for applications should specify which public entity or organisation it was for.