Those who need their medicine prescriptions renewed at a health centre have to queue up with other patients because nursing aides on industrial action are not booking appointments with doctors.

A patient goes to a health centre once every four minutes to have a prescription renewed; a weekly average of 262 patients in every health centre.

Towards the end of 2006, the government had introduced a system of renewing repeat prescriptions by appointment in a move meant to cut down on queues. But for the past four weeks, nursing aides have been following action ordered by the Union Ħaddiema Magħqudin over a dispute about a yearly allowance: They have been instructed not to be in contact with patients. This means they are not booking appointments for patients, which is normally one of their responsibilities, leaving patients with no option but to wait in line along with everyone else needing to see a doctor.

"Patients have no option but to visit the doctor without an appointment," a spokesman for the Health Parliamentary Secretariat said.

Contacted yesterday, union official Jesmond Bonello defended the action, saying other workers, including the management, could fix the appointments.

He insisted nursing aides were entitled to an allowance to carry out nursing duties but it was not being granted to them after they were given transfers when St Luke's Hospital closed. He complained that when they were interviewed, a number of nursing aides were found unsuitable to carry out nursing duties.

When it was argued that fixing an appointment for patients was not a nursing duty, Mr Bonello said the authorities could ask other employees, including the management, to do the job, although he admitted that patients were suffering just like they did whenever industrial action was resorted to.