Albert Fenech, one of Malta's top cardiologists and a former MP, died on Tuesday aged 70.

Fenech was reportedly found dead inside his house and is believed to have died of natural causes.

A top doctor who spent more than two decades overseas, Fenech also had a brief foray in politics as a Nationalist Party MP between 2013 and 2016.

Fenech co-founded the cardiology department within local public healthcare in 1995 along with fellow cardiologist Alex Manche and carried out the very first operation at Mater Dei Hospital - an angiogram - in 2007.

He continued to be one of Mater Dei Hospital’s top cardiologists until 2015, when he was told that he had to make way for younger cardiologists.

Fenech quit parliament the following year, when he took up a job with Vitals Global Healthcare, the company handed a concession to run three state hospitals. 

Vitals told Fenech that they wanted him to run new cardiac units within St Luke's and Gozo General Hospital. But those promises never materialised, and in an interview just last week Fenech said the plan was “another white elephant” and that the hospitals deal had “bamboozled” people.

In a brief statement, the PN offered Fenech's family its condolences. 

"His death is a loss for all Malta," it said. 

Health Minister Chris Fearne, who is a surgeon by profession, described Fenech as a "colleague and a gentleman" and said he would be sorely missed by doctors and patients. The Labour Party also expressed its condolences.