Nurses suspend planned action

Industrial action by nurses at the St Luke's Hospital casualty department has been put on hold pending the outcome of a meeting today between the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses (MUMN) and the hospital's medical administrator.

The action - which would have hit the casualty department's triage system among others - was postponed following a meeting held yesterday afternoon between union officials and the hospital director of nursing services.

MUMN general secretary Colin Galea said that during yesterday's meeting, the health division representatives agreed that nurses at the Admittance and Emergency Department should have a private insurance policy to cover them when they are in ambulances.

The health authorities have also delegated a person to look into nurses' uniforms, which the union is claiming is not suitable for the type of work they do. The most pressing issue is expected to be discussed this morning: the union is concerned that nurses cannot guarantee a high enough level of care for patients.

In a statement to the media issued earlier yesterday, the union had said industrial action would start from 7 a.m. today. This was to entail, among other measures, nurses classifying patients solely as urgent or less urgent instead of the three-pronged triage system under which patients are seen by doctors according to the nature of their condition.