The report of the investigation launched after a nursing aide stationed at Mount Carmel Hospital was interned as a mental health patient following an outburst with a superior will be ready by the end of next week, Minister for Health Chris Fearne said.
The investigation was launched following complaints by the General Workers Union, prompting Mental Health Commissioner John Cachia to launch an inquiry.
The aide was interned for four days, the GWU said on Thursday, during which she was kept under constant watch and subjected to the "humiliation" of showering in front of her colleagues.
Without delving into the nature of the argument itself, union official Jeremy Camilleri claimed that the nurse was diagnosed with mental health problems after it was reported that she had been heard threatening suicide. However, the order to detain her and keep her under constant watch was given "over the phone", Camilleri added.
Camilleri contradicted the claims of the hospital, saying that the nursing aide was not admitted with her consent and that she was kept in the same ward where she used to work.
In view of this situation, the union urged Fearne to reinstate the nursing aide, who is on half pay, and transfer her to another hospital. The GWU also flagged "threats" allegedly made to care workers also at Mount Carmel whom, Camilleri said, were threatened with dismissal if they followed the union's industrial directive.
Those directives are based on the care workers being given certain duties such as "level 1" constant watch over patients, level 1 patients being those who are at imminent risk of harming themselves or others, which the union said are not within their remit. Indeed the union insisted that the care workers are not even trained for such duties and should not do this job.
In comments to The Malta Independent, Fearne said that he has already made contact with the GWU and is planning on meeting with them in the coming hours. He said that in the coming days he will also be meeting with Cachia.
"He (Camilleri) told me that the investigation and report will be ready at the end of next week, which is when I will be able to meet with the GWU to discuss the case."
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