Nurse suspended over disappearance of elderly home resident is reinstated

Rhys Xuereb, the nurse who was suspended from duties at St Vincent de Paul Home for the elderly over the disappearance of Karmenu Fino has been reinstated.

Fino, 83, a dementia sufferer wondered out of the SVDP home in June last year and his lifeless body was found weeks later in Birżebbuġa.

An internal investigation into the incident ordered by the Active Ageing Ministry found significant shortcomings on the part of staff working the night shift as well as the security team assigned on the night of the disappearance.

Xuereb was eventually suspended from his duties but the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses claimed he was a victim of a “frame-up” and made a “scapegoat” for the lack of staff manning the wards.

The MUMN had said Xuereb, who was a reliever and had only graduated a few months prior, had to oversee 34 patients in an open ward. He was not given the opportunity to defend himself.

The MUMN had also ordered industrial action in Xuereb’s support.

In a letter to Prime Minister Robert Abela disseminated to the media on Friday, MUMN president Paul Pace and general secretary Colin Galea thanked him for lifting Xuereb’s suspension.

No further details were provided.