Nurses want time frames for works at Mount Carmel to be cut shorter

The nurses’ union wants the time frame for renovation works at Mount Carmel Hospital to be cut shorter so the job could be done sooner, Times of Malta was told.

The Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses last month threatened the government it would take action if it was not informed about the time frames of the works.

This followed reports in Times of Malta indicating that most of the wards at the country’s only mental health hospital had condemned ceilings. As a result, patients were crammed into a few wards, with beds lined up too close to each other, at times even forcing them to keep their belongings on the floor.

In comments to Times of Malta following a joint press conference with the union on a recruitment drive, Health Minister Chris Fearne confirmed that discussions on the issues at Mount Carmel were under way and “progressing well”.

“We have a plan for Mount Carmel, which was already there but which, together with the MUMN, has been tweaked a bit,” he said.

Union president Paul Pace said that the government had supplied the union with the time frames adding these had to be cut even shorter so the much-needed work could be carried out sooner.

“We were given the time frames...