The Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses (MUMN) painted a worrying picture of issues at Karin Grech Hospital.
Firstly, the union spoke of structural issues. "Karin Grech Hospital is in an alarming state of disrepair. The facility is in urgent need of refurbishment, with sections of the plaster often accompanied by huge chucks of concrete falling from the roof, narrowly missing nursing staff. In ward R1 the relatives' toilets have been closed by architects after the roof was declared unsafe and in imminent danger of collapse." It said that across the hospital, ceilings are deteriorating, with parts of plaster falling off - posing constant risk to patients, nurses, and visitors alike.
Recently, news broke about a €16.5 million tender being issued to lease a building for a rehabilitation hospital, and that it is for the lease of a "self-contained building" to house a rehabilitation hospital for Karin Grech patients. But if the current building is posing a danger to patients and workers now, then the authorities must take swift and immediate action. One hopes that checks are being made to ensure that the site is safe, if not, then such checks must be carried out immediately. This would be the result of lack of investment over the years in the facility.
The union also highlighted that the issues go beyond infrastructure, saying that in one ward patients are consuming alcohol and marijuana openly and regularly, and that nurses have filed multiple incident reports and repeatedly requested security intervention. Here one assumes that the MUMN is not referring to marijuana for medical purposes. It goes on to say that these reports were ignored by hospital management and no security was ever sent, and that certain patients have been permitted to dominate the ward environment, leading to verbal abuse, intimidation, humiliation, and emotional exhaustion among staff. It went on to say that several nurses have required psychological support due to the toxic and unsafe work environment.
These are issues that need to be urgently addressed. Being a healthcare professional in today's day and age is already stressful enough, and the right support must be provided to them. Patients could of course be under a lot of stress and worry too, so it is understandable that some might lash out. In those circumstances action must be taken to de-escalate the situation, and knowing that security would respond is one way to ensure issues are kept under control. These are things that management must take seriously. If there is a lack of security presence when nurses are saying that they are feeling intimidated and humiliated, then that is a problem.
All this led to the union declaring an industrial dispute and issuing Health and Safety Directives.
The Health Ministry addressed the issue in a statement, saying that the Management takes the concerns of all staff, including nurses and allied health professionals, with the utmost seriousness and that the Ministry remains "fully committed to maintaining a safe and supportive working environment for all those who dedicate their lives to the care of others."
It said on Thursday that it formally invited the MUMN for talks aimed at addressing the situation constructively but that the union declined to attend. Now it seems a meeting will take place later in November. The first step to solving the issues present is through dialogue. But the ministry must be ready to take steps to find solutions for the issues at hand.