The Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses (MUMN) is threatening the Health Division with industrial action over the “discriminatory” system of food distribution at Mater Dei Hospital, affecting around 800 nurses and midwives.

At a news conference held in front of the hospital yesterday, MUMN president Paul Pace explained that the Health Division, without any consultation whatsoever, had changed the working conditions of nurses and, as a result, a large percentage of nurses and midwives were no longer entitled to canteen food.

“This means that their working conditions became worse since the entire hospital staff migrated from St Luke’s Hospital to Mater Dei,” he said.

Mr Pace pointed out that the authorities chose to outsource the food catering instead of building a kitchen.

“At least 13 nurses were infected with food poisoning on Tuesday after they ate food from the canteen,” he said.

Mr Pace said he hoped that the Public Health authorities would open an investigation about the cases of food poisoning.

Therefore, he added, nurses working in the Blood Transfusion, operating theatres, Central Sterile Service Department and the Special Care Baby Unit (SCBU) were not entitled to staff meals because these were not working directly with patients.

Mr Pace explained that the Health Division published a circular that was issued in 1989 that stated that only nurses who worked 10-hour shifts and who worked directly with patients were entitled to food from the hospital canteen.

“This was never implemented because the unions objected,” he said.

He went on to say that only nurses working at Mater Dei were affected by this circular – nurses working at Mount Carmel Hospital, St Vincent De Paul, Boffa and Gozo Hospitals were all entitled to food from the hospital canteen.

However, even though the union believed that this circular was discriminatory, the authorities have refused to discuss its contents, said Mr Pace.

Nurses who have worked nine hours or even nine hours and three quarters have to pay out of their pockets to buy lunch and if they did, they wasted 40 minutes of their 50-minute lunch break waiting in the queue, he explained.

“We complained about this issue even when we were working at St Luke’s but we were promised that everything would be state-of-the-art and of the highest quality at Mater Dei,” said Mr Pace.

One of the complaints made was that the portions were too small.

“The contract states that each portion should not weigh more than 300g so nurses have to choose between meat and vegetables as they can’t have both,” said Mr Pace.

He went on to say that bread was not distributed with the food and the nurses had to buy water or orange squash out of their own money because drinks were not included in the contract.

The union president said that food prices in the canteen are more expensive that in other shops and pointed out that, unlike St Luke’s, there are no shops close to Mater Dei.

Mr Pace said that the union registered an industrial dispute with the Health Division and unless it receives an answer in writing to its requests by Wednesday 5 December it will order industrial action.

In a reply issued later on yesterday afternoon, the Mater Dei Hospital communications office stated that it is still too early to conclude that staff meals caused food poisoning.

It also stated that the public health authorities are carrying out scientific investigations to establish the cause of the problems some members of the staff are “allegedly” facing and no conclusions can be reached until the investigation is over.

The statement also pointed out that so far there are no reports that the patients’ food had any problems. There are two different caterers providing staff and patient meals.

Mater Dei management will see that the contractor will follow the contract to ensure that the offered service will be of the highest standards possible.

Health Minister Louis Deguara yesterday clarified that no hospital employee who was, or is entitled to, a free staff meal had lost this right.

In a statement Dr Deguara said that people who were taking advantage of a free meal without being entitled do it can no longer do so in Mater Dei due to the new systems in place.

The minister said that the quality of the free staff meal is much higher to that given in St Luke's Hospital.

"There is no comparison whatsoever because now the food is served in an air-conditioned restaurant," he said.

Furthermore, said Dr Deguara, the portions are distributed according to established criteria – 200g for starters, 300g for the main and 60g for dessert amounting to over 500g per person.

This does not include a three-course breakfast with tea and coffee as well as afternoon tea with cake, he said.

The minister said that discussions about who is entitled to a free staff meal in Mater Dei were held before the migration.

During these discussions it was agreed that those who work a 10-hour or longer shift will be entitled to a free meal.

The minister stated that it expected the MUMN to be more reasonable in its approach but added that the government is ready to meet and discuss this issue with the union.