Doubts have been raised about the financial capability of the preferred bidder chosen to invest in the Gozo General Hospital, Shadow Minister for Health Claudette Buttigieg said today.

Addressing a press conference, Mrs Buttigieg said the PN has information that the preferred bidder - Vitalis Global Healthcare - is currently searching for investors.

The Shadow Minister said that when the government was asked about this in a parliamentary question, Health Minister Konrad Mizzi merely replied by saying that Vitalis has submitted a high-quality business plan.

It looks like investors have not found the money with which to invest. This raises questions about the due diligence process," Mrs Buttigieg said.

The Shadow Minister also pointed out that the government's pre-budget document refers to the Gozo hospital as the "Barts hospital in Gozo."

Mrs Buttigieg said that Barts has denied being the investor in this project, and the government had said that the hospital will serve as a teaching hospital for Barts.

Shadow Minister for Gozo Chris Said said that the 900 workers at the hospital have been left in the dark about their futures.

"Not much has been heard from the government about what is happening since the preferred bidder was chosen. This is creating uncertainty among workers at the hospital," Dr Said said, pointing out that the hospital is the biggest employer in Gozo.

"The Gozo Ministry is saying it has nothing to do with the privatisation. Education and health no longer form part of the ministry. This begs the question, would the Gozo Minister have gone for this option," Dr Said questioned.

Persons of trust placed there by the government are already leaving because hospital will be privately run, he said.

Unions are also telling workers that they have no information at the moment, he continued, questioning why the government is holding back from publishing the preliminary agreement with the preferred bidder.