Elderly patients at Gozo Hospital are being left in their beds because of a lack of carers and nothing is being done to stop their suffering, the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses says.

The union called on Prime Minister Joseph Muscat to “pity the elderly in Gozo and stop such suffering”. It said that, for the past months, it had pointed out that there was a shortage of 22 carers in Gozo but the situation remained unsolved.

The nurses’ union said there were qualified Gozitan carers working in various hospitals and residences in Malta. They were willing to work in Gozo but were “prohibited from doing so”.

It said it was informed that the tender for the recruitment of carers for the Gozo hospital did not include any time frame. Neither did it include the number of carers needed in the specifications.

The Department of Health said it was in the final stages of recruiting contractual care workers for Gozo hospital. The contract had been adjudicated and the contractor was short-listing candidates who should be engaged in the coming days.