Agreement between the government and the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses appears to have finally been found over a new sectoral agreement.

Discussions have been ongoing for a long time, and MUMN members had previously voted down a proposed agreement by the government last April by a vast majority. Before that, the union had issued industrial directives. Those directives stopped right before the April vote.

After it was rejected, discussions continued and now, months later, agreement has finally been found.

Both sides seem to be pleased with the outcome. On the MUMN’s side, Eighty-seven per cent of nurses approved a new sectorial agreement that has been negotiated, the union said. The MUMN added that it is proud to confirm that most of its proposals had been accepted and will be introduced during the five-year term of this agreement. On the government side, Prime Minister Robert Abela welcomed the agreement in a post on Facebook. He said that the agreement will mean better conditions and salaries for the nurses, saying he was pleased the workers had approved the agreement reached.

Some new measures, the union said, include, among others: that the extra 6.6 hours which nurses and midwives work as part of their roster will be paid as overtime and not on flat rate as it has always been since the 1970s; that All nurses and midwives in all grades will be receiving a management allowance since only the nurses and midwives manage the wards; that new allowances were introduced to all new graduates so as to attract and retain the nurses and midwives; and Increased allowances for continuous professional development.

Now all that’s left is for the two sides to put pen to paper and sign.

It is no secret that Malta has a nursing shortage, an issue which the union has long been bringing up.

One hopes that the new collective agreement will attract more people to this field, and also retain nurses.

Malta’s growing population obviously means more pressure on the healthcare system, and we must have the best possible personnel needed to ensure that everything not only runs smoothly, but that patients receive the best possible care.

A recent survey by MaltaSurvey, which was carried out following an agreement signed by Standard Publications Limited and IDEA Intelligence, found that people are still positive about Malta’s healthcare system. A total of 41.3% rate the system as "good" while 14.5% rate it as "excellent". A further 28.4% of respondents rate the quality of healthcare as fair, while 15.9% gave it a poor rating. This means that a combined total of 55.8% are satisfied with the quality of the country's healthcare.

There is of course much room for improvement.