The nurses' union and the health authorities are disagreeing over the number of nursing posts needed for the health services to operate efficiently.
The Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses is insisting the country has a shortage of at least 1,400 nurses, a figure the government deems to be "grossly exaggerated".
According to a spokesman for the Parliamentary Secretariat for Health, 500 nurses were needed over the next two years.
However, MUMN president Paul Pace maintains that Malta needs at least 1,400 nurses and midwives over and above the current staff of about 2,400.
According to Mr Pace, nurses are understaffed and overworked and the health system would collapse if they stopped working overtime.
Mr Pace last week called on the Prime Minister to appoint an independent board to assess the eligibility of mature students who wished to study nursing at the University.
After hearing that the number of nursing students accepted increased from 140 to 165, Mr Pace was concerned that none of the mature students would be accepted. Such students, he says, are needed to make up for the shortage of 1,400 nurses.
A government spokesman reacted saying the number was a "gross exaggeration". According to a reply to a parliamentary question earlier this year, the number stood at 500.
"Presently, there are 282 students at the Institute of Health Care who will sooner or later finish their nursing course without taking into consideration this year's intake," the spokesman said.
He added the University had taken a number of initiatives to support students. These included decreasing the duration of the course from four years to three years, training additional nurses to mentor students and training new academic supervisors.
Besides, he said, nurses over retirement age were being allowed to continue working. There were 28 nurses and two midwives over 61.
Mr Pace disagreed with the government's calculations adding that they did not take certain factors into account such as the number of nurses on maternity leave that reached 12 this year.
"I stick to those figures. We need at least 1,400 more nurses and midwives. These figures are very conservative. About 600 are needed at Mater Dei Hospital and the rest at Boffa Hospital, St Vincent de Paul, Mount Carmel and in primary health care," he said. In addition, there was a need for relief nurses to fill in for their colleagues.
On any given day there were about 50 to 60 nurses on sick leave, vacation leave of maternity leave. "None of the wards and hospitals have the right staff complement. At Mount Carmel Hospital nurses are working 80 to 90 hours a week. At St Vincent De Paul there is one nurse for every 45 patients during the night shift and nurses cannot take leave unless they find a replacement for themselves," he said.
"If nurses had to chose to stop working overtime, as is their right by law, the health services might as well close down."
Mr Pace added that one had to keep in mind the governments' plans to build a new cancer centre by 2012 and reform the primary health care, initiatives that would require even more nurses.