A female nurse attending an ambulance call was, without warning and provocation, physically pushed down several stairs on her approach to the patient by a relative, the MUMN said in a statement.

This baseless assault did not take a turn for the worse since neighbours and members of the public intervened so as to shelter the nurse from further physical and verbal abuse by her assailant, the union said.

Such incident happened on 1 November and unfortunately such assaults are not rare on the nurses working in the E/A department.

The Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses strongly deplored such an aggression and hopes that the police will in the coming days take action. Nurses working in the E/A Department who are the first line for the hospital care should be protected and appreciated for their dedicated work in the E/A Department. MUMN expects that the Health Minister and all relevant authorities are to follow suite and deplore such incident which unfortunately is not common at all.

MUMN has been striving to obtain the same insurance policy handed down by the Minister for Home Affairs and National Security for the Civil Protection Workers and Prison Wardens for several months but with no success.

Although an agreement had been reached between MUMN and the Health Department so that the E/A nurses and the nurses working with mental health patients should have the same insurance policy as the Civil Protection and Prison Wardens, but to this day such insurance policy was not handed to the Nurses involved.

Therefore, if by 8 November 2019, MUMN does not receive the official document of the insurance policy for the Nurses working at the E/A  Department and for the Nurses working in the Mental Health set up, the following directives are to come into effect:-

1)  Emergency Nurses will stop all their involvement and service provided with respect to priorities  3, 4 and 5 patients, that is Area 3 and MCC;

2) If matters escalate further nurses will only operate from Area 1;

3) The nurse is to give instructions to the ambulance driver not to exceed the speed driving limits of the local area due to health & safety reasons.