The nurses’ union is standing by its claims that issues at the Gozo Hospital still needed to be addressed, though it acknowledged that the situation had improved.

Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses president Paul Pace said he disagreed with the conclusion of a visit to the hospital by a Times of Malta reporter who found that the situation in wards was not as dire as the union had claimed.

The impromptu visit came after the union published a letter it had sent to the Health Ministry’s permanent secretary, threatening industrial action over the “mess” at the hospital.

You can’t compare situation now to then

Mr Pace said a “snapshot” of the situation at the Gozo Hospital “can never present a true picture” of what was going on and could not be used to reach “any conclusions”.

He admitted the situation had improved since the letter was published four days ago.

“You can’t compare the situation now to the way things were then,” he said.

However, there were still a number of issues that had to be addressed, such as the lack of nurses, uniforms and reclining beds. The union was in ongoing talks with the health authorities and would only be able to establish “the remainder of problems” at the hospital on January 15 when it publishes a full report.

Among other things, the MUMN had also criticised the health authorities for what it called mismanagement, understaffing and nurses’ work conditions.