The GSD says that the reply from the Government on the Professor Burke scandal is a “classic smokescreen.”

A statement continued: “First they play the man and not the ball - as usual. Then they say they will not reply on the substance for legal reasons. All of that is nonsense and simply an attempt to avoid the key questions.

“The Government contracted Professor Burke in 2018 to head up Clinical Governance at the GHA. They presented him as a leading expert in the field having published extensively about patient safety and harm in hospitals. Now they are trying to trash the credentials of their own contracted expert because his conclusions aren’t convenient to their narrative.

“Mr Picardo told Parliament there was “no shred” of evidence of patient harm or preventable deaths. In fact, we now know he was sitting on a Report of 20 sample cases sent to him by Professor Burke. Additionally, Professor Burke had told the Chief Minister this was just a sample and there were potentially many more cases of failures in care or communication causing harm to patients.

“Mr Picardo therefore clearly misled Parliament when he said that there was “no shred” of evidence. He needs to say why he chose to give the impression that there was nothing in the allegations and that he had received nothing from Professor Burke when, in fact, he had received information of individual cases and more information had been offered to him.”

Leader of the Opposition, Keith Azopardi said: “Instead of sitting on the issue or being in a state of denial Mr Picardo should, at the very least, have commissioned an independent investigation into these matters to see if the allegations were correct and whether improvements could be made to the health service. Mr Picardo’s reply is just a sign he has lost all touch with the core issue at stake which is about ensuring the highest quality of care to patients. Instead, he is just interested in safeguarding his own reputation and trashing everyone that shows dissent. Last week he attempted to trash Henry Pinna and Action for Housing. This week it’s Professor Burke. This is an emerging pattern. Everyone who criticizes Mr Picardo is wrong and subjected to personal attacks. The people of Gibraltar will see through that and want better. On this issue it is obvious there should be an independent investigation.”

Shadow Health Minister, Elliott Phillips said: “There are high quality and dedicated staff at GHA who deliver excellent care in many cases. But if there are deficiencies in care or administrative practices that impact on some cases any issues should be identified and dealt with. It’s in the interests of all patients and families that this is so. Government needs to stop acting like an ostrich.”