Routine electrocardiograms have not been held for more than a month at any State health centre across the island as industrial action by the nurses’ union rages on, Times of Malta has learnt.

The strike was ordered last month after a handful of ECG technicians who had requested a transfer to Mater Dei Hospital were overlooked by the Health Services in favour of new recruits. The important tests use painless scans to record the heart’s electrical activity and are vital in monitoring several medical conditions as well as when patients are under anaesthesia.

Luckily the scans carried out at health centres are for scheduled appointments, meaning patients who are in urgent need of a scan will not be withheld treatment as these are carried out at Mater Dei Hospital.

The president of the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses, Paul Pace, told Times of Malta that although no contract had been signed stipulating that the technicians were to be assigned to the general hospital, it was normal practice that transfer applications were accepted once new recruits were available.

“We have a case here where new staff went straight to Mater Dei while those who had been waiting for several months to leave, were ignored,” Mr Pace said.

Sources said Health Minister Konrad Mizzi had met different parties involved in the dispute earlier this week and a resolution was expected soon.