The Social Policy Ministry has hit out at an MUMN directive to theatre nurses, saying it is abusive, unfair, and detrimental to patients.

The ministry said that the union had, overnight, directed the theatre nurses not to assist in operations unless they were given body fluid repellent gowns.

The ministry said the hospital administration was committed to providing all necessary protective equipment to the staff.

The gowns currently worn by theatre nurses had been in use for several years. Nonetheless, the administration had carried out an exercise to establish the requirements for the new gowns and was about to take the final decisions.

The ministry said there were different types of surgeries and such gowns were not necessarily required for all of them. But the MUMN directive made no distinctions.

Therefore, the MUMN directive was considered to be abusive, unjustified and would achieve no purpose other than to hinder the planned programme of operations.

This attitude, the ministry said, would impact on patients and the waiting list for operations would therefore get longer. This was in sharp contrast to the government’s commitment to reduce waiting time, the ministry said.