More than 4,000 workers in the public health service will be getting better wages and conditions. This was after a new sectoral agreement was sealed for nurses and midwives, while a new sectoral agreement was also signed for ECG technicians.
When he visited the nurses after attending the signing of these agreements, the Prime Minister Robert Abela stressed that these sectoral agreements are a strong testimony of a Government committed to investing heavily in the areas that are of good for the community, and the health sector is among the most important areas for the people and the country.
“Malta has a health service that always qualifies among the best. There is no doubt that the participation of the workers is essential and central in all this. Therefore we are investing in one of the main professions to provide this service. Extremely satisfied that when we are sealing this agreement, which means another promise fulfilled, we are giving the best conditions our nurses have ever had. We fully believe in what we are doing,” said the Prime Minister and noted how the Government is constantly improving the conditions of the workers.
The Prime Minister added how the Government wants more young people to choose this nursing vocation. “You enter nursing because you have love for the patient. But everyone knows that, at the end of the day, one also claims that the sacrifice he has made both in study and in work will have a career that, in addition to giving him satisfaction, will also help him live a better quality of life. This agreement aims to strengthen this profession and to look at it as a career in which to progress,” said the Prime Minister.
While emphasizing the will of the Government to improve the quality of life, he explained how this is one in a chain of initiatives. “Therefore the country needs to keep growing the economy so that the wealth that is created can be invested back in the most crucial areas,” stressed the Prime Minister. For the signing of these agreements, the Prime Minister was accompanied by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Health, Chris Fearne and by the Minister for Active Aging, Jo Etienne Abela.
While describing the agreement as a historic one, the President of MUMN, Paul Pace said that “the benefits are many. The first and most important beneficiaries are the patients hospitalized in the various hospitals, elderly people who are in institutions, citizens who visit the health centers and those mothers who enter the hospital to give birth their babies.” He added that with this agreement we will have more motivated nurses and midwives. “Everyone is aware of what is going on in the world – a shortage of nurses everywhere. But here in Malta we didn’t just stop by recognizing the problem, but the most important thing is the fact that we worked together to encourage more young people to choose this profession as their career, as well as introducing incentives for nurses and midwives stay in the job, especially those of a young age,” said Paul Pace.
“This Sectoral Agreement could not have come at a better time because it will begin to address the problems of this shortage and create an establishment,” said Pace who also noted how this is a Sectoral Agreement that will further incentivize nurses and midwives to continue to specialize.
“This specialization is important to give patients care more targeted to their needs. The most important point in this Sectoral Agreement is that it is addressing exactly where the challenges are. The biggest challenge is the lack of nurses and this is exactly what this Sectoral Agreement is doing.
The secret to the success of this Sectoral Agreement is the fact that the benefits in it remain within these two professions so that young people, when they come to choose a career, are able to see the difference,” he concluded. Mr. Pace while thanking the team from the side of the Government involved in the negotiations.
Also present was the Principal Permanent Secretary Tony Sultana, other Government and Union officials.
Photos: DOI/OPM
