As he prepares to face charges in connection with a patient who self-harmed while under his care, a Mount Carmel Hospital nurse has spoken out about the issues of staff shortages.
Police are investigating Joseph Pace’s position in hospital, and he is expected to be charged with criminal misconduct in court.
The event, which occurred in 2017, involved a patient who self-harmed while being under regular self-monitoring.
Police said they couldn’t comment on the case since it was still in progress in court, but that their decision was based on the findings of a magisterial investigation.
On Wednesday, dozens of nurses gathered outside the hospital’s gates to show their support for Pace and to support the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses’ appeal for the charges to be dismissed.
Some members were also heard calling for the resignation of Health Minister Chris Fearne
“Every day we have to look at what the needs of the patients are going to be and if let’s say, I need 200 people to man the hospital, without fail there are only 150,” Pace said.
“Because this patient wasn’t covered on that day he self-harmed. I’m not going to say that it’s a daily occurrence here, but it happens often.
“We found him with a nasty wound and covered in blood. None of us thought twice about it and we just went in to help because the priority was to save him.”
He went on to say that there was never an investigation into the event, that he and the other staff members were never summoned to testify about it, and that the threat of being prosecuted has lingered over him for the past five years.
“Just when I thought interest in the case was dying down, they waited until a Saturday evening, as I was leaving my house to attend a wedding, to stop me and summon me to court. To have this happen like this, you have no idea what it does to a person” he continued.
“I have been a nurse for 40 years, I am one of the longest-serving in this hospital. I don’t know what else can be done.”
According to MUMN President Paul Pace, the police failed to consider the fact that the incident was affected by severe staff shortages, and that individual nurses are not to blame for the government’s failure to hire enough staff.
“The Health Minister is a cold person who didn’t intervene, left us out to dry and abdicated from his duty and responsibility. He is a person incapable of addressing the situation, and instead retorts to sending people to court,” Pace added.
He further expressed how as a union one would expect the support from the Health Ministry, but instead, it seems that “they are always against us, keeping in mind that Joseph Pace is the third person who is under police investigation and will be taken to court.”
“If the Minister had intervened when we asked for support, this would not have happened,” Pace said.
“Why are nurses being blamed when there isn’t enough staff to go around? We barely have enough people to staff the compliment, let alone to serve everyone who is placed under constant watch.”
Pace added that the MUMN would not remain silent about the case and threatened directives if the charges are not dropped. In protest he added, the union would also not be inviting the Health Minister to attend their annual conference on nurses’,
