Physiotherapists, radiographers and occupational therapists are among 800 State healthcare workers participating in an industrial action called in protest at “unaddressed staff shortages”.
They are acting on a directive issued by the Union Ħaddiema Magħqudin not to answer phone calls or e-mails. Other directives vary according to the sector. Physiotherapists, for example, will not be carrying out work in the community and will not attend ward rounds.
The action, which started on Wednesday, will continue unless the government employs all 80 new graduates in a bid to start addressing the staff shortages, according to Gian Paul Gauci, from the union’s health services section.
The industrial action involves all staff in all government healthcare facilities, including Mater Dei Hospital, health centres, St Vincent de Paul, Karin Grech Rehabilitation Hospital and Mount Carmel Psychiatric Hospital.
UHM has issued directives to the Laboratory Technicians working in Mater Dei Hospital to refuse to process essential and urgent blood investigation by not accepting the blood samples through the pneumatic tube system hence no blood results are being issued.
In a statement this morning, the MUMN termed the UHM's directive as "reckless" and "putting patients’ lives at risk".
It said this was because urgent blood investigations were not being processed.
As a result, nurses and midwives were being constrained to abandon their wards and take the blood samples physically to the laboratory, begging for the tests to be carried out because they could be "a matter of life or death".
MUMN said its directives never impacted patients’ well-being or members of other unions.
It said that, as a responsible union, it has instructed all nurses and midwives to continue to take the necessary blood investigations ordered by the doctors to the laboratory through the pneumatic tube system.
The UHM however insisted in a reply this afternoon that contrary to the MUMN's claims, the UHM and the government had agreed that the directives were not putting patients’ lives at risk.
"Contrary to what Paul Pace wrote, urgent samples are in fact being processed and samples are being transported by nursing aides and care workers instead of nurses," it said.
The union said it was the MUMN's constant directives which impacted on the well-being and members of UHM.
"Paul Pace seems to have forgotten when a few months ago his responsible union effectively stopped all chemotherapy and it was only through UHM and its pharmacist members that patients’ lives were saved through chemotherapy."
MUMN later denied the allegation and said it was seeking legal advice.
Read more on Times of Malta.