The Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses has appealed to the Ministry of Finance to approve the necessary funds to allow the recruitment of nurses.

In a meeting held this week between the Union and the Health Department, the Union said that it was informed that no funds had been approved to employ newly graduated nurses from the University, or for nurses who have decided to return to the workforce.

The MUMN said that it cannot understand how the Government is “announcing investments and projects linked to the health sector and at the same time is holding back in order to allocate funds to recruit nurses in the Department of Health and the Department of the Elderly and Community Care.”

“As everyone knows our country has a major shortage of nurses and this shortage will continue to increase when the private investment projects in the Gozo General Hospital and St Luke’s Hospital come into force,” the Union said.

“It is unacceptable that the necessary funds have not been approved.” The Union stated, “at this rate there will definitely not be enough nurses to work in the new hospitals. It is useless for the MUMN to prepare annual campaigns aimed at attracting more students to enter the nursing profession, while at the same time funds are not being allocated for this purpose.”

The MUMN has called on the Prime Minister to intervene in this situation and authorise the Finance Minister to allocate the necessary funds for the recruitment and employment of nurses.

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