Nurses’ union says staff shortages at Karin Grech at crisis level

The Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses (MUMN) has flagged a shortage of nurses in Malta which it said, had reached crisis levels.

The union said 14 nurses had resigned from Karin Grech Hospital over the last two weeks, with the hospital now short of 50 nurses. “If MUMN had permitted the Health Division to issue the call to poach nurses from the private sector into the public sector, the situation would have been catastrophic,” the union said.

KGH is run by Steward Healthcare, the American healthcare concessionaire that runs Karin Grech, Gozo and St Luke’s Hospitals.

The MUMN said that because of this shortage, out of 270 beds at Karen Grech, only around 140 are being utilised. “The shortage of nurses is compounded further since even carers of the private contractor, which are an essential part of the supporting staff of the nurses, are resigning and moving to the UK in a rapid mode.”

The union said it was an open secret that Malta was being used as a stepping stone for nurses and carers to gain experience and knowledge, before moving to the UK for better salaries.

The MUMN said that such resignations were also occurring at the ational hospital, Mater Dei Hospital, with an average of three nurses a week moving abroad. “MUMN’s repeated efforts to open talks for a new sectorial agreement to stop such nursing haemorrhages are not even being considered by both the health minister and the permanent secretary. Their only ‘solution’ was to poach nurses from the privat sector, a short-minded step that leads to a serious catastrophe.”