Health Ministry slammed over €1 million home help direct order

A €1 million direct order issued by Malta’s Health Ministry to provide community home help for the elderly has been annulled by the Public Contracts Review Board (PCRB), following a successful appeal by a rival company excluded from the process.

The PCRB found that the ministry’s Active Ageing Department had no valid justification for bypassing a competitive tender, ruling that the use of a direct order breached public procurement regulations.

In a strongly worded decision, the tribunal ordered the immediate cancellation of the contract and instructed the ministry to issue a proper public tender.

The controversy centres on a 2024 decision by the Active Ageing Department to award a €1 million contract to Support Services Ltd under a so-called “Negotiated Procedure”—a mechanism typically used in exceptional cases where competition is not feasible.

The contract was intended to extend ongoing home help services until a new competitive tender could be launched and adjudicated.

Bad Boy Cleaning Services Ltd, a competing provider, challenged the award, arguing there was no legitimate reason to avoid open competition. The company maintained that several qualified operators were active in the sector, undermining any claim of exclusivity.

The PCRB agreed, noting that negotiated procedures are only permissible when a specific provider is the sole viable option—a threshold not met in this case.

Such procedures are often misused, enabling ministries to award lucrative contracts to preferred suppliers without scrutiny, as countless cases show. Yet these decisions are rarely contested—owing to the expense and duration of legal appeals.