A total of 300 nurses, mainly foreign, have applied to work within the public sector, the Health Ministry said yesterday.

Of these, 50 applications were from Maltese, some of whom have just completed their studies and will be called to work in the near future, the ministry said.

It was reacting to statements made by the Emergency Nurses Union and the Medical Association of Malta which lamented the shortage of nursing staff and the long waiting hours to be given a bed in the hospital’s emergency ward.

The nurses’ council, an auto-nomous body, has received 300 applications since January, after the government issued a call, which will remain open until 2011, for nurses of any nationality to apply for the job.

The majority of these – 250 applications – were submitted by foreign nurses, mainly non EU-nationals, a ministry spokesman said.

So far, 125 have passed the first phase of the selection process. The council has given the go-ahead for 46 Pakistani nurses to work as staff nurses from next month while a further 79 nurses would be scrutinised, the ministry said.

In a statement, the nurses’ council said it was committed to providing the best service possible by closely vetting the qualifications, while making sure the nurses were able to communicate without any problems.

To overcome language barrier problems, foreign nurses will follow proficiency studies and ensure they adapt to work and the Maltese culture.

The vetting process took time because the council had to check the qualifications while other departments had to approve a work permit and a visa, it added.

Health Minister Joe Cassar said the figures were the result of the government’s commitment to strengthen the health services.

But Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses president Paul Pace said the problem of long waiting times at Mater Dei Hospital’s emergency ward was more complex than the shortage of nurses.

“There is more to it than a lack of nurses and we are short by around 700. Among other things, a lot of repetitive work is done by the casualty and ward doctors. There is also a massive shortage of beds,” he said.

He said 84 per cent of patients at Mater Dei Hospital were elderly people who could not be taken home because both spouses had to work. “It’s not a matter of dumping – lifestyles have changed,” he said.

Mr Pace condemned the decision to leave patients waiting in a corridor, describing it as undignified and highly irresponsible.

The union was tackling the shortage of nurses on all fronts. “We are leaving no stone unturned,” Mr Pace said.

The union is meeting the ministry next week to discuss several proposals, including changing the hospital’s admission and discharge policy, while increasing the bed complement and the intake of new nurses.