Court upholds freeze on union directive blocking admissions to SVDP

A freeze on a union decision to block the transfer of new patients into the St Vincent de Paul has been formally upheld by a court.

Judge Neville Camilleri upheld the temporary injunction filed by the Ministry of Active Ageing last week against a Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses directive.

The decision means the government will be free to move senior citizens who need long-term care and are currently occupying beds at Mater Dei Hospital into the state-run SVDP home.

New admissions at SVDP had been blocked by the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses, which ordered its members to not process new patients after a nurse was suspended in connection with the disappearance and death of 83-year-old SVDP resident Carmelo Fino.

Authorities said the union directive was adding strain to Mater Dei Hospital, which was forced to host patients requiring long-term care who could not be transferred to SVDP. Two weeks ago, Active Ageing Minister Jo Etienne Abela claimed that there were 178 beds lying vacant at the care home as a result of the MUMN action.

Commissioner for the Elderly Godfrey La Ferla also weighed into the discussion, saying senior citizens were ending up victimised by the union...