MUMN action over ward clerks shortage

Nurses and midwives at St Luke's Hospital will not be carrying out administrative work that is not directly related to the treatment of patients as from Thursday.

On February 6, the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses directed nurses in eight medical wards not to do any administrative work but as from Thursday, the directive will be extended to all the wards at St Luke's, including those serviced by ward clerks.

The MUMN announced an escalation in its directive to its members in a letter to the director general of the Health Division, Ray Busuttil.

In the letter, dated February 24, the contents of which were distributed to the media by the MUMN yesterday, the union noted that in spite of the agreement reached between the Health Division and the union on June 8, 2001, vacancies for ward clerks had not been filled.

This discrepancy had led to a worsening of the situation at St Luke's compared to what it was in 2001.

The union estimates that about 40 ward clerks are needed.

The MUMN told Dr Busuttil that: "As you can appreciate, the MUMN has been exercising prudence for more than 20 months, awaiting the agreement between the two parties to materialise but with disappointment notes that there seems to be no immediate solution."

The union informed Dr Busuttil that nurses and midwives were spending 40 per cent of their time doing administrative work - that could easily be done by ward clerks - to the detriment of patients.