An agreement had been reached with the Health Division for the employment of a number of new pharmacists and pharmacy technicians, including at Boffa Hospital, the Union Haddiema Maghqudin said in a statement.
The union said it had insisted on the need for additional pharmacists at this hospital even because of the responsibility to prepare the chemicals used for chemotherapy
It said that last Thursday, it received confirmation from the Health Ministry that three new pharmacists, two of whom were to work at Boffa Hospital, were to be employed with effect from today.
The union said it would remain in continuous contact with the workers to continue working in the interests of its members.
The UHM's statement followed another by the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses this morning calling for an urgent meeting with the Health Ministry and Health Department to submit proposals on how to alleviate the suffering of patients attending Boffa Hospital for chemotherapy.
The MUMN union warned it was preparing to issue directives to pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and nurses working at this hospital.
It said that patients who arrived for their chemotherapy session at 6am had to wait at least until midday before this was administered. Moreover, this was sometimes cancelled due to backlog and lack of space.
The union said there was a six-week waiting list for newly diagnosed patients to start their chemotherapy treatment.
It said this was all due to a shortage of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians at the hospital and to the fact that there was no management running Boffa Hospital.
The union said Boffa needed a managerial structure that was autonomous from Mater Dei.
MUMN warned it would not be accepting any fait accompli document regarding the work practices of nurses, pharmacists and pharmacy technicians as a result of the migration plan being carried out behind its back.
Former minister says oncology services were earmarked to benefit from reformed management structure
Former Health Minister Godfrey Farrugia said in a statement that early in the legislature, the government recognised the need to enhance the efficiency and efficacy of Sir Paul Boffa Hospital, not least because it acknowledged the particular vulnerability of patients availing themselves of oncology services.
Reformatory measures, he said, were taken in anticipation of the planned migration to the new Oncology Center at Mater Dei Hospital.
A Special Business Unit (SBU) was created through the set up of a team that included all health care professionals and managerial personnel to provide an improved level of care not only by establishing best management practices, but also by rendering the treatment more holistic and patient centric.
This planned reform was backed by government appointed experts in the field as well as by the conclusions and recommendations delineated in reports commissioned by both this government and the previous one.
The intended structure was to comprise a board of directors, an executive board and a medical board at a macro management level, headed by a CEO .
Nineteen SBUs, each one designated for each separate speciality to cater for management at micro level, were to complete this structure.
Oncology Services, which by the end of this year would have migrated to Mater Dei, was one of the specialities earmarked to benefit from this reformed management structure, he said.