The Forum of Maltese Unions (ForUM) said today that it welcomes the agreement between the Ministry of Health and the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses (MUMN) allowing specialised nurses to administer some medicines without a doctor’s prescription when patients are being rushed to hospital.

"These pre-hospital care challenges, including administering medicine during pre-hospital care, could be life-saving. This is now standard procedure in most EU Countries. The medicine nurses are allowed to administer is regulated by law and a number of other drugs and other procedures that nurses are allowed to administer during an emergency are also given by nurses with advanced training, especially when a life-threatening situation arises," ForUM said.

ForUM concluded by saying that this agreement is "a milestone" and both the Ministry of Health and the MUMN "are to be lauded" for reaching such an accord.