Union tells Boffa nurses not to treat cancer patient

The nurses' union has ordered its members at Boffa Hospital to deny treatment to a patient with advanced cancer whom it deems to be a "health hazard".

Stephen Brincat, chairman of the hospital's Oncology Department, has condemned the directive as "totally immoral and outrageous".

"We have some excellent nurses and their work is appreciated, but I have never witnessed such a directive.

"It's unheard of to act against a patient," Prof. Brincat said when contacted.

"Since the directive is completely unethical, I expect the nurses not to obey it on the grounds of their conscience. The union is putting them in an impossible situation," he said.

The directive, which came into force on Monday, also instructs "nursing staff to leave the ward, with the exception of just one member for CPR purposes only" when this patient enters the ward.

In contrast to normal practice, this directive, which also boycotts the hospital's medical administrator, was not made known to the media.

Paul Pace, the president of the Malta Union of Nurses and Midwives, defended the union's stand saying that if the patient was "hazardous" then it was right to deny the patient treatment.

The whole issue revolves around an argument between a nurse and this patient on July 29. The nurse alleged he was verbally harassed while the patient claimed he was threatened, Mr Pace said.

Mr Pace added that the union is upset that the nurse was transferred, via a phone call, to another ward without being given a fair hearing.

"This is unacceptable. I'm not going to go into the merits of whether the patient or the nurse is right in this case. We are against the way things were handled. We want an internal investigation," he said when contacted.

"A nurse can be removed simply because a patient complains. We expected the hospital management to handle this case better, but we were left with no alternative but to issue the directive to safeguard the staff's integrity," he added.

The patient has since been discharged but Prof. Brincat said that due to his advanced stage of cancer, he could return to hospital at any time in an emergency. "What will happen then?" he asked.

Mr Pace, however, is standing his ground and stressed that the directive will not be lifted unless the nurse is returned to his ward.

John Cachia, director general health care services, said the nurse was temporarily relocated to another ward within Boffa Hospital as a precautionary measure.

The hospital's medical administration took the necessary action following allegations by the patient and a nurse about each other.

"The first steps included filing all the reports. The police were informed. This is in line with previous measures agreed with MUMN in similar circumstances, in other hospitals, when staff members are under police investigation," Dr Cachia said.

"The Health Division cannot understand the union's reaction... The union directives are putting unnecessary pressure on nurses who know that their first obligation is towards the patient."

The union should weigh its responsibilities carefully when it directs its members to abandon a patient who calls at the ward for the necessary care, Dr Cachia said.