The nurses' union is calling on the Prime Minister to appoint an independent board to assess the eligibility of mature students who wish to study nursing at the University.

Union president Paul Pace said he was concerned that none of the 200 mature students who applied to start their studies this year would be accepted by the University even though they were eligible. Such students were needed to make up for the shortage of nurses.

A University spokesman explained that 110, and not 200 people, had applied as mature students for the nursing course.

Mr Pace said he did not trust the University to screen students for eligibility, insisting that the assessment should be done by an independent board in order to ensure that any potential nurses were not turned away.

"In the past, the University has shown that it is not sensitive to the country's requirements and the dire need of nurses. There is a shortage of about 1,400 nurses at the moment. I don't trust that the University will make the right decisions to address this. Perhaps the time has come to allow foreign universities to set up in Malta," he said.

Reacting to this, the University spokesman said: "All those who assess the suitability of mature students are serious, capable and experienced academics. The University finds Mr Pace's insinuations concerning their professional conduct unacceptable".

The University said it was always eager to accept mature students whose life and work experience would lead them to follow courses with profit.

"These have included enrolled nurses and nursing aides who obtained a diploma, with a number of them proceeding to further undergraduate and postgraduate studies...

"However, when it is clear that applicants do not have the requisite abilities to follow a course with profit, the University tries to channel their enthusiasm towards other study opportunities. To accept a candidate who clearly will not be able to keep up with his or her peers is unfair both to the student and to the University," the spokesman said.

The spokesman added that the Institute of Health Care was always sensitive to the needs of the nursing profession and workforce not only by increasing the number of pre-registration nursing students but also by providing courses for already qualified nurses to upgrade their qualifications.

The nursing course issue ignited after the government embarked on a campaign to attract more students to nursing in order to plug the shortage. This resulted in double the number of applicants to a record 379.

The number of places in nursing courses had originally been limited to 140 but, following meetings between the Education Ministry, the Parliamentary Secretary for Health and the University on Monday, it was decided to raise this to 165, which represent all the eligible applicants who obtained the required qualifications.

The University has decided that all mature students who were not in possession of all the required academic qualifications would be assessed for their suitability to pursue other courses.

In Mr Pace's view this was likely to mean that valid candidates who did not have all the qualifications but qualified as mature students might have been turned away.

"Although the increase in students is a positive, it's not enough. The University has merely accepted 25 but leaving out the rest," Mr Pace said, adding that the country could not afford to lose potential nurses.

The University explained that training placements were the determining factor in the amount of students that could be accepted in the course. The University was bound by an EU directive to ensure that standards were maintained and training provided. The number of students was therefore determined by training placements available within the Maltese health sector. Asking other institutions to provide courses in nursing, as suggested by Mr Pace, would not solve anything.

A spokesman for the Health Secretariat added that the provision of clinical placements in reputable hospitals abroad should be actively considered.

In addition, in response to the needs of the health service, the Nursing Division was developing undergraduate certificate programmes in specialist areas, which are targeted for development, including theatre nursing.