Update 2 | Nurses blast Mater Dei report, Dalli says road ahead is dialogue

A livid Paul Pace has blasted a government-commissioned report into health management inside Mater Dei Hospital, saying John Dalli - the former EU commissioner who authored the report - had 'machine-gunned' the entire edifice in an attack on management and union's collective agreements.

Pace, president of the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses, defended the collective agreements clinched under the former Gonzi administration, saying they were not defined by electoral pressures and that despite the rights conceded to nurses, his profession remains underpaid and understaff at MDH.

"The way Dalli has written the report is as if he was some 'Al Capone' spraying machine-gun fire all over the place. He could just as well have called for the health minister's resignation, because he was simply stating that MDG management was being led by the minister."

"This report is confrontational... if the prime minister is considering this report, we're ready for confrontation. The ball is in the prime minister's court."

In a reaction, Dalli said that it was "unsurprising that somebody hurts when the wound is touched".

"None of the facts pointed out in the report were denied during the MUMN press conference, but an attempt was made at providing explanations for this state of facts. The criticism that was made in the report was on work practices that have to be fixed, and no attack was made on workers," Dalli said.

Dalli said that the decision had to be taken by the government whether the status quo would stay in place, or whether the public will be served better. "The road ahead is that of constructive dialogue and not of industrial action."

'Attack on nurses'

Pace also announced that nurses had been instructed not start new surgeries after 5pm, as part of industrial action to safeguard them against health risks associated with the stress of the day-to-day running of the operating theatres. The new hours will allow the tailing of the elective surgery list and allow staff to prepare for any emergency operations. Major operations in the elective list will not start after 4pm. Nurses usually keep working till 7pm on surgeries.

Pace also accused Dalli of "attacking" the nurses' collective agreement, putting undue attention on their working shifts, of attempting to introduce new management inside MDH; and also accused the General Workers Union of fanning the report's conclusions to the detriment of MUMN workers. "A case in point is the fact that four days ago, the GWU issued directives to three of its affiliated members to revert to an antiquated shift system when the MUMN had accepted a health division roster in the name of conviviality," Pace said.

The MUMN represents the majority of nurses and midwives inside Mater Dei.

Pace denied that nurses were enjoying some free-for-all on their work shifts. "No nurses has ever faced any disciplinary proceedings because they were not found on their place of work... Dalli did not write about the amount of extra hours we work, and the family life we sacrifice... it's untrue that we have been paid double salaries. It's a lie."

Pace said the reason Dalli had found hundreds of different time shifts was because every single ward had a different level of activity that mandated different levels of intensity. "We have wards that are at constant activity, while others only require a skeleton staff in the night... under Dalli's mindset, uniformity in shifts would mean removing family-friendly measures altogether."

75 per cent of nurses are women, 55% of whom are of childbearing age. "The prime minister says he wants more women working, and that's why we have flexi-rosters and family-friendly shifts at MDH. I'm sure it's not Joseph Muscat's intention to stop these measures."

Pace and MUMN secretary-general Colin Galea denied that the union had an enormous influence in the hospital, but conceded that it was customary for the health minister to meet with the union over work matters, because politicians were interested in dealing with matters that could also affect their electability.

Pace took issue with claims by Dalli's assistant John Abela, who presented the report to stakeholders, that there was no productivity increase on overtime.

"He must think Mater Dei is some tomato factory's conveyor belt," Pace scoffed. "Doesn't he realise that the reason for overtime is the lack of full-time complement for nurses? That nobody replaces sick leave and that wards are not even fully staffed? That's why I call this a report of convenience... we need more theatre wards and staff to cut down on waiting lists, but Dalli had nothing to say on the stretchers in corridors or the bottlenecks being created inside the hospital.

"This a report of convenience and cowardice, that throws everyone in one basket without pinpointing the real problem but to force his influence into the management of the hospital. I challenge Dalli to substantiate his claims, because the union won't be discussing this report with any politician until he does - and if he cannot back up his claims, he has to take them back."