MUMN to protest at partial recruitment of nurses

The Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses will be staging a protest in front of Castille this morning against "the partial recruitment of graduating nurses". The union says that the number of vacancies is much higher than the number of graduates.

Following the protest, the union is expected to present a letter to the prime minister.

In a statement, the union said it could not understand how the government was taking decisions that were not in the interest of patients.

The government was letting financial problems affect also vulnerable people and the MUMN was surprised and disappointed at the situation and was willing to take all the necessary action for the situation to be changed.

The union was prepared to take its complaints to its international affiliations, including the World Health Organisation, the International Council of Nurses and the Standing Committee of Nurses in the EU.

The union was also protesting at how the Health Minister had changed his version when in September he said the department would employ nurses according to vacancies but was now saying the department did not have enough money to pay the salaries of all the new nurses.