Routine electrocardiograms have not been held for more than a month at any State health centre as industrial action by the nurses’ union rages on.

The strike was ordered last month after a number of ECG technicians who had requested a transfer to Mater Dei Hospital were overlooked 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.

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

The president of the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses, Paul Pace, said 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. 

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