Emergency nurses are still unable to give potentially life-saving medication to patients when they go out on ambulances, five months after the issue was supposed to have been resolved.

Nurses are very concerned that their inability to administer medication, which is, ironically, carried in their emergency bag, could cost lives.

An Emergency nurse said yesterday they are unable to give medication even to patients suffering from heart attacks or strokes even when wasting precious moments could cost patients' lives.

Nurses were also being faced with patients in extreme pain because of bone fractures but their hands were tied and were unable to administer pain killers, the nurse, who insisted on anonymity, said.

"Some of us take risks and still give medication to patients because we feel it is risky to wait," the nurse said.

Last September, the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses had raised concern over the issue but reported five days later that the health authorities had agreed to allow nurses accompanying ambulances to administer medication to patients in emergency cases.

However, MUMN president Paul Pace said yesterday that, although five months have passed, the situation remained the same: "Nurses are professionally qualified to administer medicines but are unable to do so".

This is putting nurses in awkward situations and has led to bullying by relatives. In one case a nurse was unable to give a boy suffering from febrile convulsions drugs while the mother begged and pleaded. In the end, the nurse handed over the drug to the mother who had to administer it to her son herself.

In January 2008, the union had written to director general for health, John Cachia, saying it had been informed that the authorisation for emergency nurses on ambulances to administer drugs had been shelved.

"This unacceptable attitude adopted by the health division is not only an insult to our nursing profession but also to the public. Drugs, like intravenous glucose for patients suffering hypoglycaemia and rectal valium for patients suffering from febrile convulsions, are potential life savers," the union had written, adding that it would have expected the health authorities to prioritise this issue.

Questions sent to the health authorities on the matter remained unanswered.