Unemployed health care graduates petition MPs

About 50 unemployed graduates of the Institute of Health Care yesterday signed a petition against the government's decision not to recruit them with the Health Division.

Accompanied by representatives of the Union Haddiema Maghqudin (UHM), jobless professionals marched along Republic Street in Valletta and handed over their petition to the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition and MPs who were entering Parliament.

The ex-students, who will graduate next week, have been unlucky enough to complete their course at a time when the government has decided to "re-evaluate staffing levels in the public health sector". The measure was primarily related to budget cuts that were unforeseen when the graduates had started their course.

Having completed bachelor of science courses in radiography, speech and language therapy, medical laboratory and physiotherapy in July 2004, the unemployed professionals said it went unquestioned that they would get a job with the Health Division when they started the course as they had been told there was "a great need for healthcare professionals in the health sector".

The graduates have claimed their only chance for employment is with the Health Division because the private sector never employed inexperienced health care professionals, even because they employed Health Division radiographers on a part-time basis.

John Briffa, health services section secretary of the Union Haddiema Maghqudin, said the only reply these graduates had received from the authorities was that there was no room for them in the health sector.

Contrary to the Health Directorate's claim that staff levels had reached saturation, Mr Briffa said some Health Division professionals were doing a lot of overtime because there weren't enough workers.