Steward Malta said that it will indemnify nurses involved in litigation resulting from performing their health care duties at Steward Malta run hospitals.

Steward Malta in a statement, said that together with the Malta Union for Midwives and Nurses, they have come to an agreement which will see the immediate removal of directives currently in place within Steward Malta Hospitals.

It explained that “through this agreement, Steward Malta is committing to cover legal expenses for nurses who are involved in litigation, due to incidents occurring during supervision, as recommended by allied health professionals and physicians.”

Malta President, Dr Nadine Delicata described the agreement as “a significant win for patients and health care front liners.”

She added that, “our focus is always that of delivering the highest quality care possible and of safeguarding the interests of our patients and our workforce. We feel that by providing legal cover for our staff, they will feel further empowered and protected when conducting duties within our hospitals and are happy that these directives can be lifted once and for all.”

Steward Malta went on to say that it looks forward to a “continued engagement with unions and all other stakeholders which will see the full delivery of Steward’s obligations to the government and citizens of Malta as outlined in the concession agreement.”

This includes “breaking ground on the new hospitals in Gozo and Malta this year and more importantly Steward’s unwavering commitment to the wider health care community,” it said.

The MUMN said pointed out that “incidents which are a result of misconduct or gross negligence on the part of the nurse will not be covered by Steward Health Care. Additional carers will also be added in all rehabilitation wards as to improve the service at KGH.”

MUMN noted that that while Steward Health Care will be providing the necessary liability coverage for nurses in GGH and KGH, “the Health Division was not willing to offer the same liability coverage.”

MUMN remarked that it is “utterly disappointed that while in various meeting, both the Health Division and Steward recognised the huge liability on the nurses due to the Allied Health Supervision Forms, the Health Division has been reluctant to take any measures to remove the liability and financial burden on the nurses.”

In respect of this agreement, MUMN said that it is lifting all directives regarding liability both in GGH and KGH, but will retain all other directives in the Government Hospitals.

Photograph Anthony Zammit

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