Pay talks between the government and the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses are ongoing and seem to be heading in the right direction, Health Minister Chris Fearne said on Thursday.
He was replying to questions after the union last month month ordered industrial action while insisting that nurses should be paid as much as other healthcare professionals in the same grades. The union told its members not to coordinate transfers of patients, not chase results including those from COVID-19 swabs and not to give handovers.
The industrial action was, however, stopped on court orders at the request of the health ministry. The ministry s lawyers argued that the directives were unlawful, disproportionate and excessive and could endanger patients lives. Mater Dei Hospital’s clinical chairman had warned that the industrial action could bring the hospital to a standstill, while the Association of Surgeons of Malta criticized the directives as antithetical to the care of vulnerable pati
The court concluded that the directives issued by the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses endangered patients. Not one or two directives. Fifty-seven directives issued by the nurses’ union were judged by the court to put patients’ health at risk.
But MUMN’s Paul Pace declared victory. Why? Because not all of its directives were struck down. Some were allowed to stand.
That is no victory. It is a horrific indictment of the reckless disregard for patients’ safety by a union purporting to represent healthcare professionals who are trusted to care for us at our most vulnerable.
Of course, many of the nurses and midwives MUMN claims to represent are appalled at the shocking insensitivity of the union’s actions, especially in the middle of a pandemic.
Nurses’ industrial action reducing the number of operating theatres to a bare minimum would have “tragic consequences”, the association of surgeons warned on Monday, as it condemned the union that issued the directive.
The Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses has listed a series of directives to its members in a dispute over salary. But last week a court severely curtailed the actions, limiting them to those that do not affect patient health, following a request for an injunction filed by the health authorities.
However, the court allowed the union to go ahead with a measure that restricts the availability of operating theatres to just four, the minimum allowed by law.
Nurses industrial action gets green light from court - with patient safeguards
In a ruling on Friday Mr. Justice Robert Mangion allowed the action ordered by the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses to go ahead, with the exception of directives which could place patients’ health at risk.
12 December 2020, 9:59am
by Matthew Agius
The MUMN has hailed as a great victory a judge s ruling that partially upheld its plans for industrial action, but which also ordered the union to withdraw some directives which could negatively impact patients’ wellbeing.
In a ruling on Friday Mr. Justice Robert Mangion allowed the action ordered by the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses to go ahead, with the exception of directives which could place patients’ health at risk. The judge also forbade any industrial action to be taken by nurses working at the St Vincent De Paul care home and the Karin Grech Rehabilitation Hospital.
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