Nurses union directives 'would have put patients' lives at risk' - Mater Dei
Hospital management slams MUMN industrial action as 'out of proportion'
The management of Mater Dei Hospital on Friday slammed directives issued by the nursing union as “out of proportion” warning they “would have put patients’ lives at risk”.
On Wednesday the court provisionally upheld a prohibitory injunction by the health ministry, temporarily halting Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses directives over leave entitlement at Mater Dei’s cardiac catheterisation suite.
In a statement, Mater Dei management said that the cancellation of cardiac interventions planned for Friday, the day when nurses were meant to refuse working on elective cases as part of the MUMN industrial action, could have threatened patient safety.
“Mater Dei Management is of the unequivocal opinion that cancellation of these procedures would have put patients' lives at risk. Therefore, the outcome from the directive issued by the nursing union was out of proportion to the matter being discussed.”
The Cardiac Catheterisation Suite, the only one in Malta, is a high intensity unit focused on treating life-threatening cardiac conditions, and those that can result in premature death.
“Without the expertise and participation of these specialised nurses, such procedures cannot take place, since they require the constant presence of nurses with specialised training and technical competences uniquely present within the nurses employed in this unit,” Mater Dei management said.
Although the MUMN directive originally stipulated that staff would refuse working on elective cases from Friday, the hospital pointed out that patients undergoing elective procedures might nonetheless experience “serious complications in a short time” including heart failure, severe arrhythmias, stroke, “and a significantly elevated risk of premature death”.
The hospital added cardiac interventions planned for Friday were aimed at diagnosing and treating coronary artery disease, implanting or servicing pacemaker-defibrillators, as well as diagnosing and treating various cardiac arrhythmias.
Earlier this week the Health Ministry took the case to court arguing the directive put patients’ life in “grave jeopardy”, describing the MUMN’s action as “disproportionate, unethical and unsafe”.
MUMN said it was seeking to defend the rights of nurses who have been deprived of their leave entitlement following what it described as a clear breach of the 20% rule which regulates the number of employees allowed to take vacation leave simultaneously.
The union accused MDH management of restricting vacation leave at the suite to only one nurse per day, making it “impossible” for the 18 nurses in the department to use up their accrued leave. They pointed out the nurses had more than 1,500 hours of vacation leave which “ have become inaccessible” to them.