‘Grow up’, speaker tells MPs after political clash over health

A heated row erupted in Parliament yesterday after the Leader of the Opposition, Daniel Feetham, said staff at the Accident and Emergency department in St Bernard’s Hospital worked under a system that was “not fit for purpose”, prompting a furious reaction from the government.
The Chief Minister, Fabian Picardo, described the comment as “utterly disgraceful” coming from a local politician.
As Mr Feetham tried to call a point of order to say the Chief Minister was misrepresenting his words, both men were sternly reined in by the Speaker, Adolfo Canepa, who ordered them to “keep their tempers” and threatened to suspend the session if they did not.

“Grow up and behave like what you are, representatives of the people of Gibraltar, and not like children in a playground,” Mr Canepa said.
The exchange signalled a renewed attack by the GSD on the government’s handling of bed shortages at St Bernard’s hospital, particularly over the festive period following a surge in demand for beds.
In the question and answer session Mr Feetham had tabled a number of questions surrounding the monthly average waiting times at the Accident and Emergency department.
This, according to government data, ranged from two hours and four minutes to two hours and 34 minutes.
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