Elderly patients in Gozo General Hospital are being left in beds and not placed in armchairs since the hospital is still short of 22 carers which MUMN had been requesting for these last months, the union said in a statement.

While under the current PL administration, the elderly Division in Malta had used direct order to engage carers as not to endanger the elderly residents in SVPR, the same decision was not followed by the management of the Gozo General Hospital at the detriment of the elderly residents.

MUMN last year had supported the elderly Division so to act in a safe practice and in the benefit of the elderly in SVPR when a shortage of carers resulted, with a direct order being issued to address the shortage in an urgent manner. This was a great success.

The same decisions were not followed by the CEO of Gozo General hospital supported by the Health Division which Gozo General Hospital forms part of. Presently there are Gozitan carers fully qualified working in various residents/hospitals in Malta all willingly to work in Gozo but prohibited from doing so.

MUMN has been informed by the Health Division that the tender for the procurement of carers for Gozo General Hospital did not only not include any timeframe for the winning bidder and neither the amount of carers needed in Gozo. To add insult to injury, MUMN who is supposed to be a stakeholder with the health Division, was ridiculed when it stressed that carers are urgently needed since the elderly residents are being put in risk on a daily basis.

MUMN is therefore requesting the intervention of the office of the Prime Minister as to address the issue of the lack of carers for the sake of the elderly residents in St Anna and also within the male and female general wards.

Residents in Gozo General Hospital especially those in St Anna have now been left in beds for weeks with the CEO of Gozo General Hospital and the Health Division allowing this human suffering to continue.

While the Minister for Gozo provided the necessary funds as to address such shortage urgently, the CEO of Gozo General Hospital with the support of the Health Division have allowed such human suffering to take place for months on end.

MUMN appeals the Prime Minister to take pity of the elderly in Gozo and stop such suffering by allowing that the Gozo carers working in Malta to start working in Gozo General Hospital where they are much needed.