Nurses are showing concern over the slow paced handling of appointments of Deputy Charge Nurses, after the results showing which applicants were chosen to fill around 120 posts were withdrawn not once, but twice due to mistakes according to the MUMN Secretary General.
Speaking with The Malta Independent yesterday, MUMN general secretary Colin Galea said that the 400-600 applicants for these positions have been left uninformed, not knowing who got the posts as things are moving too slowly.
Galea said that the calls for applications for some 120 Deputy Charge Nurse positions were in a variety of locations including Mater Dei Hospital, Mt Carmel Hospital, the Gozo General Hospital, health centres, St Vincent de Paule, Karin Grech Hospital etc.
This, Galea said, was the first time that the calls were issued separately by the different institutions for the same position within the respective institutions, as in the past one general call would have been issued. The main concern is the length of time being taken to sort this situation out, he said.
The Charge Nurse is the head of a ward, and the Deputy is one step below, Galea explained.
He said that after the call, interviews were conducted and the results issued. After a few months they realised that the boards of the different institutions did not use the same criteria as each other, no coordination. For example, an applicant would score 80 points for the post in one institution, and 70 for the same post in another (if the person in question applied for the same position in two institutions for example). The boards did not use the same criteria for the same position. These weren’t issues of qualifications, experience or anything like that, but on things which you cannot go wrong on, he said. “There wasn’t any coordination.”
When this was realised, the results were withdrawn and orders were given for the Chairpersons of the boards to meet and months after the results were re-issued, only to realise that there were again, mistakes. The results were then withdrawn again, he explained.
He said that all the applicants are now awaiting the results to be issued again, yet things are moving far too slowly on this issue.
In addition, he said, there is currently a lack of 120 Deputy Charge Nurses. This means that when the Charge Nurse is off duty, it could mean that wards would be without a head.
In a press conference today, Galea said that the MUMN has remained prudent throughout the whole saga, and is currently protesting the delays in this process, but for now, does not plan on taking further action.