Govt accuses Opposition of seeking to ‘aggravate and escalate’ row over GHA dispute resolution

The Gibraltar Government on Friday defended its position in the row over the GHA’s dispute resolution procedure, accusing the GSD of seeking to “aggravate and escalate” matters for political gain.

The Government was responding after the GSD questioned whether the Minister for Health, Gemma Arias-Vasquez, was properly addressing concerns about the GHA’s handling of grievances and dispute resolution.

In a statement, the Opposition said it was receiving claims that complaints of “bullying and mismanagement” at the GHA that were being “swept under the carpet”.

The spat comes after Unite last week raised concerns about the GHA’s approach to handling grievances, citing a lack of transparency and failure to follow established processes.

The union said that a growing number of its members are discouraged from raising concerns due to grievances being ignored or not progressed.

In response, the GHA said it would carry out a comprehensive review of its dispute resolution procedures, including the grievance process.

The GHA will also conduct a review into the handling of a grievance affecting the Critical Care Unit to assess whether due process was properly followed.

The CCU complaint had been highlighted by Unite as it raised concerns about transparency and what it said was a failure by the GHA to follow established processes, although the GHA maintained the response was properly handled.

On Friday, the Government said it was disappointed by “the irresponsible manner” in which GSD MP Joelle Ladislaus had responded to answers in Parliament on the issue.

It insisted that the minister had been correct when she told Ms Ladislaus she had not attended a meeting on matters relating to the CCU including the conduct of one or more GHA employees and the outcome of investigations into that conduct.

“In this case, Ms Ladislaus has either been misinformed or, worse, is deliberately manipulating the sentiments of staff members,” the Government said in a statement.

“The Government believes that the meeting Ms Ladislaus refers to was a general meeting on the future of the CCU that was attended by over 20 individuals and was not a meeting regarding staff conduct.”

“Ms Ladislaus should know better that a meeting on staff conduct would never be held in this manner and attended by over 20 individuals.”

“If she was referring to the wider meeting held, she should have put the question in a different way.”

The Government said the GHA had explained the “deliberate and specific steps” it was taking to “strengthen and improve” its internal dispute resolution, and had reiterated its commitment to “openness, transparency and proper disclosure”.

“It is disappointing that Ms Ladislaus has either not read it or chosen to ignore it and instead has attempted to aggravate and escalate matters where others are pursuing constructive dialogue and real solutions,” it said.

Ms Arias-Vasquez added: “Ms Ladislaus’ insinuation that I have provided an incorrect answer in the House is unparliamentary and she should apologise.”

“Both the Government and the GHA remain committed to proper procedure in dispute resolution and are taking active steps to strengthen trust in the process in the future.”

The minister said she had always sought dialogue with Ms Ladislaus and would have expected the GSD MP to deal with any issues surrounding the most critical ward at the hospital “more sensitively, rather than trying to score political points”.