The Gozo General Hospital plans to increase its staff, the new management has said, rebutting a claim that nurses are being kept in the dark over their future with the hospital.

Not only was the nurses’ employment guaranteed, but plans were also in hand to increase staffing levels, said a spokeswoman for Vitals Global Healthcare (VGH), which has taken over the hospital from the government.

Nurses who spoke on condition of anonymity complained that they knew very little of what was in store for them in the near future.

“We are seeing work being undertaken within the hospital grounds, but when we ask about our future, we are told that the plans are still very fluid and nothing is cast in stone,” one nurse said. Another said nurses were not being involved in the decisions being taken on issues that affect them.

The Gozo General Hospital management and the VGH management are not aware of any issues with nurses, nor is the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses, who we are in close contact with

But a spokeswoman for VGH said that it was not aware of these difficulties among staff members.

“The Gozo General Hospital management and the VGH management are not aware of any issues with nurses, nor is the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses, who we are in close contact with,” she said when questioned.

In 2015, VGH was given a concession to transform the Karin Grech, St Luke’s, and Gozo hospitals into world-class medical facilities providing more beds, services and programmes to the public.

“VGH can reassure all nurses working within the hospitals that not only is their future employment safe, but that we will soon be adding more nurses to our hospitals to improve staffing levels and offer better care to our patients.

“Our management is always available to answer questions and queries from any member of staff,” the spokeswoman added.

Earlier this month, the Times of Malta reported that the government would be paying €1.2 million a year for the next 30 years to pay for the new medical school in Gozo to be used by Barts.

The renowned British medical school will not be building the facility that will host some 300 medical students but has instead agreed with the government to have the new state-of-the-art facilities built according to their standards with taxpayers’ money. Barts will be charging students some €30,000 a year in tuition, leading to degrees in medicine.

Originally, Barts was meant to start operating the new Gozo medical facility as of September 2016, but excavation work on the site met substantial delays due to archaeological findings.

However, efforts are under way to recoup the lost time by employing more workers in the building stage.

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