Nurses' union threatens industrial action

The nurses' union will be registering an industrial dispute in two weeks' time unless the authorities take its recommendations on board and embark on serious discussions.

Nurses attending a rally last night cheered as the outgoing president of the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses, Rudolph Cini, issued the warning.

He said the union was giving the government up to March 15 to start talks on a number of issues before registering the dispute.

The government, Mr Cini added, was focusing too much on hospitals while abandoning primary care. More hospitals and more beds meant the need for more nurses, but this was not something the authorities agreed upon. He accused Health Minister Louis Deguara of not recognising the importance of nurses.

He said state-of-the-art IT systems would in no way make up for the lack of nurses who provided 80 per cent of hospital care.

One of the problems plaguing St Luke's Hospital was overcrowding and unless this problem was addressed now it would persevere even once Mater Dei Hospital opens. The problem might spill over to other hospitals, including Zammit Clapp and Mount Carmel.

Mr Cini said the government was being called upon to launch an early retirement scheme for nurses. This would be the "magic solution" to entice more young people to choose a career in nursing. Such schemes were in place in other countries, including the UK, he said.

A study held in Malta, Mr Cini noted, had shown that 93 per cent of nurses were suffering from work-related stress and such a scheme would surely work. An early retirement scheme had worked well when it was introduced in the Police Corps and the army.

The nurses are also calling for more recognition and want to be given a warrant, which would give them more dignity.

Mr Cini said other professionals, including midwives, were granted a warrant and there was no reason why nurses should not be treated the same way. "This would transmit a clear message that we are professionals and know what we are doing."

Moreover, the authorities are being asked to review the stipend given to students studying to become nurses, which was reduced recently.

The union will be writing to the Prime Minister and to the Health Minister, outlining the problems and recommending solutions.

Although the union was not expecting immediate solutions, discussions needed to start immediately, Mr Cini insisted.