MUMN eases directive on distribution of medicine at Mt Carmel Hospital

The Health Ministry said today that it welcomed a decision by the MUMN to amend its directive to nurses on the distribution of medicines to patients at Mt Carmel Hospital.

In its original directives, the MUMN had told the nurses not to collect medicines from the hospital pharmacy, and not to give the patients any medicines brought to the wards by other people, leaving it up to the management to find other nurses to do so.

However the union has now told its members that while they should not pick up medicines from the hospital pharmacy, they should administer the medicines brought to their wards, independently of who brings them.

The ministry said last week that the original directive could undermine patient safety.

In its statement today, the ministry said it was still calling on the union to lift all industrial action which was detrimental to patients, including the directive to nurses not to collect dangerous medicines from the hospital pharmacy.

Legislation, as well as internal policies regulated the distribution of medicine and methadone and laid down that no one other than nurses could collect and distribute them, the ministry said.

The ministry said it had also written to the European Federation of Nurses, inviting its general secretary to come to Malta to verify the facts in the current dispute.

The MUMN said yesterday that it enjoyed the backing of the federation.

The ministry said, however, that information which the federation appeared to have was mistaken.

It expressed particular concern at a statement by the federation that the recruitment of nurses from Pakistan was not an ethical, professional, economic and political solution. The ministry explained that Malta had never restricted the recruitment of nurses to those from Pakistan and never mentioned that country.

The call for nurses, the ministry said, was open to nurses from all countries, including those in the EU.