By 2050, Malta will be short of 18,000 beds for the elderly, a lacuna that is expected to swell gradually, in synch with the growing ageing population, according to the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses.

It was quoting National Statistics Office and World Health Organisation figures, which show that Malta’s elderly will reach 108,000 in about 40 years’ time.

Of these, 20 per cent will require hospitalisation, meaning 21,600 beds, which today number 3,500 between government, private and Church homes.

Union president Paul Pace used the figures and quoted EU Health Commissioner John Dalli to show the MUMN was not alone in thinking “health care is at risk of collapsing”.

He said Health Minister Joe Cassar was “in denial” and was not even listening to Mr Dalli about the looming problems.

Speaking under a billboard in Attard promoting a career in nursing and midwifery, Mr Pace said the union was “hurt” by the fact that it was not given credit for the 193 – not 250, as had been stated – graduates. These would only serve to solve a quarter of the nursing shortage problem, he added.

Mr Pace said the recruits were the result of four years of industrial action by the union to remove the University’s numerus clausus and shorten the course, which was only churning out about 60 nurses, from four to three years.

Again, it had not found the support of Dr Cassar, Mr Pace said, insisting he just wanted to “call a spade a spade and not turn health into a political football”.

Mr Pace harped on the nurses’ shortage but also on the need for good infrastructure and the implementation of reforms, which, he stressed, the minister was not carrying out.

He explained that primary health care was not about doctors, it was not about health centres, or X-ray machines. It was about preventing the aged from ending up in hospitals for the elderly.

“The minister should bring about reforms not buy machines,” he said. Mater Dei Hospital alone would easily absorb about 400 nurses, Mr Pace added that about 100 were lost to retirement each year and 75 per cent were women of child-bearing age who went on maternal leave and were notreplaced. The attack on Dr Cassar continued with criticism that it took him years to issue specialisation posts and only because the union had called for his resignation.

Not only was there a shortage of nurses but also no career progression strategy for them and for midwives, who ended up in management if they furthered their studies.

Industrial action would have to be taken to fill vacancies that were just left to stagnate with the excuse of a capacity building exercise being under way, Mr Pace said. Mount Carmel Hospital was a case in point, with about 40 vacancies that were not filled and wards without staff, Mr Pace said. At St Vincent de Paul, one nurse dealt with 45 patients.The union also complained about the nurses’ pay, saying not even Greeks accepted jobs in Malta. Its suggestion to look into Cyprus’s 5,000 unemployed nurses for recruitment had fallen on deaf ears.

In a statement, the Health Ministry thanked the union for its contribution to raise awareness of the nursing profession, saying its words reflected the government’s vision.

It said primary health care had been strengthened and, in fact, more people were using the many services in the community.

On the elderly, it said 400 carers have been trained, 800 beds added and a nursing home in Zammit Clapp was recently opened.