Nurses to boycott Mount Carmel Hospital festivities

The nurses’ union has called on the government to honour its promise, made nine months ago, and install a power generator at Mount Carmel Hospital in Attard.

The president of the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses, Paul Pace objected to the fact that nurses were still waiting to be supplied with new uniforms after the tender process was halted three years ago.

He said he would be instructing nurses not to participate in the hospital’s upcoming Worker of the Year award ceremony and the events organised for the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel later this month.

“When there is a power failure at Mount Carmel Hospital, the nurses and patients are left in pitch darkness with essential treatment sometimes impossible to administer in such circumstances. Hot beverages could not be provided and even meals have to be consumed cold,” Mr Pace said. The government said last September it would install the generator at the mental hospital after the union directed nurses there to walk out of the wards if there was a power failure.

“The (government’s) false statement... was only intended to alleviate the pressures of industrial action,” Mr Pace said.

When contacted, a spokesman for the Community Care Parliamentary Secretariat explained that the authorities were working on installing generators.

There were two options in terms of installation, one of which was cheaper and more efficient. Enemalta workers were carrying out tests to ensure the power supply at the hospital, supplied from two points, could be centralised into one point for the efficient system to be installed. The tests were to be concluded by the end of the month, a spokesman said.

Mr Pace is complaining that the hospital is spending a lot of money and resources on organising the Worker of the Year award ceremony and on celebrating the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Money spent on such activities could be put to better use by installing the generators and supplying nurses with decent uniforms, he said.

“Till this very day, the Heath Division has, over the past three years, failed to supply what was promised, such as adequate uniforms and proper foot attire for all nurses,” he said, adding that some nurses had to turn up for work in track suits.

The union will be calling a press conference to explain the issue during the hospital’s feast celebrations that start on July 10.

Parliamentary Secretary Mario Galea said he was surprised at the fact that the union was objecting to the Worker of the Year award that aimed to promote the work of employees.

He added that this year the hospital would mark its 150th anniversary and the celebrations would be of benefit to patients who would be offered entertainment.

Questions sent to the Health Ministry about the nurses’ uniforms remained unanswered at the time of writing.