Nurses want private security service

Nurses at the St Luke's Hospital emergency department are set to start industrial action today, according to the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses (MUMN).

MUMN secretary general Colin Galea told The Times that about 50 nurses will start following "work-to-rule" directives, and the action will be stepped up next Wednesday unless a number of problems are resolved.

The union is mainly concerned about security within the department, with Mr Galea saying yesterday that the MUMN had lost trust in the system. The union is now insisting that security be provided by a private firm.

"Nurses cannot continue going to work worried that their safety could be at risk," he said.

Mr Galea said that although there seemed to be goodwill on the part of the hospital management, this was not enough. The union was insisting on concrete action and results.

A two-hour meeting on Monday evening between union officials and the hospital management failed to yield an agreement.

Apart from security problems, the nurses' union claims that certain working systems are hindering nurses' work and that there is a lack of guidelines in the department.

Unless the problems are solved, the union will order nurses to stop triaging patients as from Wednesday. Through the triage system the most urgent cases are seen first.