Malta’s public health system is set to come under considerable strain following the reactivation of industrial action involving all allied health professionals.
Physiotherapists, occupational therapists, podologists and speech and language pathologists working in public hospitals are among those who will be following directives. Dental hygienists and technologists, audiologists, medical lab scientists and radiologists have also received instructions.
Union Ħaddiema Magħqudin yesterday morning decided to reinstitute directives it had suspended in mid-July, following a failure to agree on a new sectorial agreement with the Government.
These medical professionals have been told to work to rule, not answer e-mails or phone calls, not attend meetings, refrain from student supervision and absent themselves from ward rounds.
Many have been told not to take on any new patients unless their condition is life-threatening. Lab scientists will not process samples such as bacterial cultures unless they are related to suspected outbreaks of food poisoning.
The most dramatic directives concern physiotherapists and occupational therapists, issued with a swathe of directives by union management.
Aside from not taking on new outpatients, answering phone calls and e-mails or attending work meetings, physiotherapists and occupational therapists have been told to hold off on home or school visits.
They have also been instructed not to carry out any pre-admission clinics or new post-operation elective cases. But according to sources, physiotherapists will continue to see cases until tomorrow morning, to give surgeons time to adjust to the directives.
According to a UĦM email, the decision to institute industrial action was taken following the Government’s unilateral decision to cancel a meeting scheduled for November 6.