Minister says PM told him to stay, reacts to MUMN resignation call

Updated at 5:34pm with comment from Joe Cassar.

Nurses’ union boss Paul Pace has opened a scathing broadside against health minister Joe Cassar, saying he should resign after ignoring nurses’ occupational health needs in a speech addressed to doctors.

“The minister deserves to resign after such a speech since it shows the utter neglect of the grievances suffered by nurses and midwives during their line of work,” Pace said.

The health minister told Radio 101 later this evening that he had informed the Prime Minister that he would step down if he was responsible for any shortcomings. "The Prime Minister told me to stay where I am," Cassar told Radio 101.

Cassar also said in a statement that Pace misunderstood the conference's aim, which focused on doctors specifically, and that he had already addressed nurses in May at the International Council of Nurses Conference. "I think it's unethical for me to answer to the kind of language used by Pace, given that the MUMN president used some disparaging allusions to mental illness to attack me."
 
The Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses president said Cassar spoke of doctors’ welfare at the seminar ‘Caring for Doctors’ organised by the Medical Association of Malta (MAM), which he said prioritised doctors’ welfare “while no reference was made to the well-being of the other professionals working in the health sector.”

 “Unfortunately when a nurse or a midwife suffers some form of injury, they must also queue in the emergency department and be treated according to the waiting time available with the general public,” Pace said. “No follow-up exists and in cases of psychological problems, due to lack of such occupational health and safety units, nurses and midwives have to report to Mt. Carmel Hospital since no proper services exist for the professional staff.”

 “The minister did not have the decency in his shameful speech to make any reference to the agreement signed between MUMN and the health division in the set-up of an occupational health unit to all professionals and not just nurses and midwives and which the health division neglected to this very day,” Pace said.

Pace said Cassar was endorsing an occupational health structure for doctors, when the MUMN had been requesting the service since 1996. Pace said Cassar was biased in favour of the medical profession. “It shows clearly that the minister, as a doctor, acts as a minister only to the benefit of doctors, whilst the nursing and midwifery professions and all the other professional bodies working in the hospital arrive second class behind the doctors.”

Pace is contending that nurses and midwives have by far the largest number of physical and psychological problems due to the stress and heavy workload. “Such grievances are from needle stick injuries, back injuries, spinal injuries, verbal and physical harassment and psychological issues such as mental fatigue and depression,” Pace said.

He said Cassar made no reference to the MUMN collective agreement which calls for two occupational health nurses to offer an essential service for hospital employees. “Although this was signed and endorsed by the health division, the ministry never had the decency to issue such important posts to this very day.”

Pace added that even the Federation of Occupational Health Nurses in the EU (FOHNEU) advised Cassar to set up the occupational health units. “It is laughable that Cassar talks of the sterling work by nurses and midwives when in actual he is not providing the necessary support such caring professions need so desperately.

MUMN has requested an urgent meeting with Cassar, saying it is prepared to issue directives to all nurses and midwives.