A tender issued by the authorities to service the Sir Anthony Mamo Oncology Centre (SAMOC) was awarded to a company that does not fit all the criteria, a letter sent to the Director General of the Department of Contracts by PN MPs Adrian Delia and Alex Borg read.
"We have been made aware that Preliminary Market Consultation (PMC) was issued on the 22nd November 2021 for the installation of an MR Linac at an empty 4th bunker at SAMOC," the MPs wrote.
They said that the requirements of the PMC stipulated that: "The system must avail itself of an automated gating mechanism which confers the ability for the machine to automatically turn the beam on and off according to the internal organ movements of the patient. This must be regarded as a critical function as it significantly enhances accuracy"; and that "the MR LINAC must be suitable to be housed in the current empty 4th bunker. Any structural changes made within the bunker will be the onus of the supplier, and the implementation of such changes must not disrupt the radiotherapy service on the other machines".
The PMC closed on the 21st December 2021
The MPs said that there were four proposals: "one of them was not for an MR Linac; another one for a Canadian MR Linac without CE certification yet able to fit into the available 4th bunker, an offer confirming that the machine can fit into the available 4th bunker; and a fourth one from Elekta (Technoline Ltd) recommending the construction of a 5th bunker (since it does not fit into the available 4th bunker)."
Incidentally, the MPs said, "The Foundation for Medical Services (FMS) received a request for services on the 31st December 2021, just ten (10) days from the PMC closing date, for the design of a new bunker. Plans were completed on the 18th February 2022, and a structural report issued by FMS on the 24th February 2022."
The MPs said that the EU-funded (Recovery and Resilience Fund) tender was published on 17 April 2022. "It called for the construction of a 5th bunker, the relocation of current services supplying the existing linear accelerators, the extension of SAMOC with all Civil/M&E/Fire/Networking requirements, the appointment of 16 key experts and the supply of an MR Linac within 44 weeks from the project commencement date, as well as a lengthy 24/7 service contract on the entire project. The tender closing date was only 4 weeks away, i.e. 17 May 2022."
"Strangely," the MPs said, "the sole award criterion chosen for this tender, contrary to recommendations by the Department of Contracts, was the price. The contract will be awarded to the tenderer submitting the cheapest priced offer satisfying the administrative and technical criteria."
The tender closed on the 14th July 2022, with a single bid from Technoline Ltd costing €21.49M, the MPs said, adding that no recommendations were published to date. "We have now been made aware that Technoline Ltd's offer certainly does not include the automatic beam gating 'critical function'. The Contracting Authority decided against the use of Negotiated Procedure, even if the feedback it obtained from the PMC replies provided evidence that automatic beam gating is an innovative technology offered by one supplier only. Instead, it decided to promptly ask FMS to design a 5th bunker and claim that the 4th bunker was not fit for purpose; blaming the issue on the corridor on the day of the hearing."
The end result, the MPs said, is that "Technoline Ltd remains the only radiotherapy supplier at SA MOC; Despite the abundance of funds, Malta will be having a second-best option bereft of what experts in the field called for in both PMC (automatic beam gating) and tender document (reflexive technology); Delayed treatments due to the construction of a 5th bunker."