Patients at Karin Grech Hospital will again be bed-bound from Thursday as nurses have been ordered to follow a series of directives issued by their union over “liability” issues.
The union said despite holding various meetings with the health authorities, nurses were still being held responsible when one-to-one care was ordered by professionals but not provided because of a shortage of carers.
As a result, nurses were facing legal consequences for something that was beyond their control, Malta Union of Nurses and Midwives head, Paul Pace, said.
“Our members are the ones being prosecuted by the police even though it is not the nurses’ fault but a problem in the system,” Mr Pace said.
In December, patients at Karin Grech had been left bed-bound for more than a month because of industrial action over the same issue.
The issue has been dragging since March when the union ordered industrial action following a court judgment in which a nurse and a nursing aide were found guilty of manslaughter when a dementia patient died after choking on food in 2012.
Patients that require any form of extra supervision are not to be ambulated
The patient, who had no supervision at the time, was meant to have a one-to-one carer in attendance.
In a fresh attempt to get the authorities to address the shortage issue, the union will be issuing a series of directives set to come into force from Thursday morning.
All patients that required any form of extra supervision were not to be ambulated, the union told members, while charting, which involves taking down important information about the patient, including details on medication, procedures and diagnostics results, will also not be carried out.
Nurses at all state hospitals and homes would also be sending all requests for one-to-one care made by other professionals to the office of the permanent secretary, the union said.
“This issue should be an eye-opener to all nurses since the health division washed its hands from such an important issue as any court cases will only be directed to the nurses.”
Relatives who spoke to Times of Malta when similar action was ordered at Karin Grech last year had expressed concern that the action would have a direct negative impact on patients who would be confined to their beds for hours on end.