Mallorca courts: Health service director-general to resign

Juli Fuster.

Andrew EdePalma22/07/2022 17:06

Juli Fuster, the director-general of the IB-Salut health service, has informed the Balearic government that he will tender his resignation. This follows a Balearic High Court ruling that he should have removed himself from the selection process for a post as a specialist anaesthetist in 2019. This was because his daughter was an applicant.

The court has stated that his "lack of abstention was not irrelevant, as he decided to exclude a competitor to his daughter in the selection procedure in which both participated". The matter was eventually taken to the court by this unsuccessful applicant.

Fuster, who married the health minister Patricia Gómez in October last year, said on Friday that he will meet members of his IB-Salut team on Monday in order to give them explanations. Although he defends his management in this matter, he has told members of the government that he will resign so as not to hinder the work of the government and so that there is no shadow of suspicion.

Earlier on Friday, opposition parties demanded that he be removed immediately, pointing to a breach of the government's code of ethics. One of the three parties that form the government coalition, Podemos, also called for him to go, arguing that "the good work that the government and the health ministry have done should not be harmed".