Nurses warn of further industrial action
The Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses said today that it would hold a rally for its members on November 18 and would issue new directives for industrial action unless the government acted to recruit more nurses.
The MUMN said that in its current dispute with the government it was not seeking an increase in salaries. But it was insisting that the government should engage all nurses at its disposal and also make the nursing course more attractive.
The union accused the government of not honouring a commitment made last year to increase the number of nurses. It said nurses who had left the job and wanted to return were finding doors closed.
Newly recruited nurses were not being engaged on casual basis, as had been the norm, and others who wanted to work beyond their retirement were also being disappointed.
The union said pressure of work was taking its toll on the nurses, both at Mater Dei and Gozo general hospital, and the situation could not be tolerated much longer.
The rally will be held at the Catholic Institute.
The MUMN has so far ordered nurses not to perform non-nursing duties.
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John Agius
Nov 11th 2008, 20:25
Can the MUMN explain why nurses have the best allowance in all the civil service if it is not to compensate for the mentioned difficulties. Do you know that a nurse in scale 10 will not accept a promotion of THREE scales above if it means forgoing the allowance??!!
Or - after getting away with it - they now want the cake, eat it and have the government do the washing up??????
d. briffa
Nov 11th 2008, 13:38
@Mr Zarb
I work there.. we just facelifted the hospital BUILDING.. no more no less.. same old-fashioned practices.. same bureaucracy.. same show-of-power attitude from certain professions ...
Until the people up there in Palazzo Castellania don't decide to wake up and say "HERE I AM IN CHARGE EITHER YOU WORK AS I SAY OR ELSE MOVE OUT!!:.. nothing will change in our health care system..
We could have easily remained at St.Lukes and maybe the government could have given us a tax deduction instead of increasing our taxes!!
David Zarb
Nov 11th 2008, 10:55
Is this the so called 'state of the art' hospital? A nice building without enough nurses, paramedics, doctors etc..? Are these the same people who strongly blamed the goverment of the 80's when medical people left our country and went to practice their profession abroad? What's happening now??? Same story! A part-time hospital.