A judge has ordered the nurses’ union to halt industrial action taken by technicians who sterilise the hospital's surgical equipment, ruling that the directives are detrimental to people’s health and are endangering patients.

In a judgment on Monday, Mr Justice Robert Mangion upheld the Health Ministry’s request for an injunction against the action of the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses.

He found that the directives were dangerous as they were leading to the cancellation of scores of operations.

The union issued the directives to technicians last month, ordering them to stop decontaminating, sterilising and packaging medical instruments for surgeries.

The issue revolved around the financial package offered to these technicians. The dispute also involved phlebotomists, who draw blood, as well as dental surgery technicians, who assist dentists.

However, the court found that the directives to these particular staff were not endangering patients. 

The judge said the ministry had succeeded in proving that the MUMN directives "placed the health, and in some cases the life, of the patient at risk”. 

Mater Dei Hospital chief executive Celia Falzon told the court that soiled surgical equipment had at first been sent to Gozo Hospital, which was not affected by the directives, but the union also put an end to this.

To avoid having to postpone scheduled operations, Mater Dei then had to ask the private sector for help but they could not keep up with the volume of surgical equipment needed.

The judge heard that the union’s action could stop all surgeries from taking place, including emergency operations, if surgeons did not find sterilised equipment available for the procedure.

“Allowing such directives to come into force will greatly endanger the health of many patients,” the judge said, as he upheld the injunction.