The Nationalist Party has claimed that the courts have decided that the case filed by PN Leader Adrian Delia for the annulment of the contract given by Government to Vitals Global Healthcare  over the management of three state hospitals and be returned to the public is of national importance.

The case was filed against the Prime Minister, Vitals Global Healthcare, the Attorney General, the CEO of Malta Industrial Parks Limited and the chairman of the Board of Governors of the Lands Authority and will be heard by judge Silvio Meli.

"The people should know who they owners of Vitals are. They should know what happened to the €50 million Vitals took when there were no renovations to the three hospitals, except for the state of the art hole near the Gozo General Hospital," a PN statement read.

The case will continue on 28 May.

The contract has been at the centre of controversy since it transferred its 30-year concession to run three state hospitals to Steward Healthcare System only 21 months into operations.

Reliable and well-informed sources have told the newsroom that VGH was forced into a sale due to mounting financial difficulty and that Minister Konrad Mizzi had known about the state of affairs for an entire year prior to the announcement.

Steward finalised the agreement on 20 February.