Health Minister Joseph Cassar said this afternoon that following a call for his resignation made by the MUMN this morning, he had phoned the prime minister who told him: "Keep up the good work".
Dr Cassar was reacting to the resignation call made this morning by the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses.
Separately, the MAM doctors' union described the MUMN statement as a public embarrassment to nurses.
Union president Paul Pace in his statement called for the minister to resign over parts of a speech he made yesterday at a conference organised by the MAM on the theme "Caring for Doctors".
In his speech, Mr Pace said, the minister had prioritised the welfare of doctors while no reference was made to the well-being of the other professionals working in the health sector.
"The Health Minister did not have the decency in his shameful speech to make any reference to the agreement which was signed between MUMN and the Health Division in the setup of an Occupational Health Unit to all professionals (and not just nurses and midwives) and which the Health Division had neglected to this very day," Mr Pace said.
He said the MUMN was requesting an urgent meeting with Dr Cassar on this matter and the union was prepared to issue directives to all nurses and midwives to protect them in view of this lack of appreciation by the minister.
In his reaction, on Radio 101, Dr Cassar said he had referred to the doctors because he was speaking at a conference for doctors. Had he been speaking at a conference for nurses, he would have addressed himself to nurses. But in speaking about the doctors, he had not been excluding any of the other members of the healthcare sector.
Dr Cassar said he also appreciated SMS messages of support which he received from nurses today.
In a separate statement, the MAM described the MUMN statement as 'uncalled for, unjustified and a public embarrassment to the nursing profession.'
The association thanked the minister for his participation at its conference. It said today's statement by the MUMN and its recent statement on treatment to Libyan patients did not do justice to the conscientious health care professionals adn caused public embarrassment to the nursing profession with invited international experts.