Steward Health Care Malta on Sunday filed a warrant of prohibitory injunction in relation to industrial action planned by nurses on Monday.

The warrant was provisionally accepted by the court, with a hearing scheduled for later in June.

Steward said the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses planned action starting Monday in relation to the recruitment of foreign nurses to work at Gozo General Hospital as an interim measure until Gozitan nurses working in Malta could be released to work in Gozo.

Steward said this was being done with the union’s knowledge and it (Steward) made it clear that the foreign nurses would not impede the transfer of Gozitan nurses to Gozo.
 
But on Friday, the union registered an industrial dispute, instructing nurses to revert to their pre-COVID duties.

Such action, Steward said, would have several worrying implications, such as elderly patients not being cared for by nurses, emergency care being suspended in Gozo, and treatment of COVID-positive as well as patients awaiting COVID results being completely stopped.
 
Steward said it believed the action was not in good faith and while it would always respect one’s constitutionally protected right to take industrial action, this must not come at the expense of patients and the Gozitan public.