A nurse suffered a concussion and blurred vision after being assaulted by a patient in police custody, and who was left unattended at the Mater Dei Hospital emergency department over the weekend, MUMN is claiming.
The nurse was one of three assaulted on Saturday, Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses president Paul Pace told Times of Malta.
The assault was brought to light by the Maltese Emergency Nurses’ Association (MENA), an educational entity. It claimed on Facebook that three of its members had been assaulted at their place of work.
Pace, who does not form part of MENA, told Times of Malta that a person in police custody was brought into the non-urgent emergency section by a police officer, after experiencing mental distress on Saturday evening.
According to Pace, the police officer proceeded to remove the handcuffs from the alleged aggressor and left him unattended.
“This patient wandered along the corridors and punched in the face the first nurse he came into contact with,” Pace said.
“He then found his way to the resuscitation room where a nurse was on her own. He attacked her, beating her to the point that she suffered a concussion so severe that her vision blurred, with doctors ordering a CT scan to make sure she hadn’t suffered a brain injury.”
'Violence on nurses not uncommon'
Noting that violence on nurses was not uncommon, Pace condemned the “avoidable mistakes” that could have prevented the assault.
“It is highly condemnable that the police left this person unattended and that security staff did nothing to intervene and protect the victims,” he said.
“There should have been a clear handover of who was going to assume responsibility of this person. If the police officer had to leave to attend to other duties at the police station, someone else should have been assigned to the patient.”
“Unfortunately, aggression towards nurses is not a new phenomenon, particularly for those who work at emergency or Mount Carmel Hospital,” he continued.
“MUMN condemns every instance of violence and calls on people to empathise and take a hard stand against violence of any kind.”
In its Facebook post, MENA expressed solidarity with the victims and also condemned violence against medical professionals.
“It is unacceptable that healthcare professionals are harassed, verbally or even physically assaulted while providing such a crucial role,” it said.
“Violence in the emergency departments not only harms health care professionals who are committed to helping others, but it interferes with the delivery of high-quality patient care. It’s time to speak up. It’s time for No Silence on ED Violence.”
Times of Malta has sent questions to the Malta Police Force about the incident.