Karin Grech running at half capacity because of nursing shortage, union claims

Karin Grech Hospital is running at half its capacity because of a nursing shortage, the MUMN claimed on Wednesday. In a statement, the union said that a further 14 nurses resigned over the past two weeks, with the hospital now 50 nurses short.  "Because of this shortage, out of 270 beds at Karin Grech Hospital, only around 140 are being actually utilised," the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses said. The shortage crisis had no limits and no boundaries, it lamented. The union further claimed that had it allowed the health authorities to issue a call that would have poached more nurses from the private sector, the situation would have been "catastrophic". An MUMN spokesperson told Times of Malta that the shortage in the private sector was even worse. The situation in the private sector is so dire that carers employed by the private sector to support nursing staff at hospitals across Malta, were moving to the UK "in a rapid mode". The union said it was an open secret that Malta was a "stepping stone" for nurses and carers who spend two years here to gain experience and knowledge and then move to the UK for "much better salaries". It added that every week, some three nurses were...