Foreign nurses to start working soon
The recruitment process for the first groups of foreign nurses should be concluded by the end of this month, according to the Director General for Health Services.
Some 46 Pakistani nurses are expected to start work in the coming weeks, the Health Ministry said, while about 200 other foreign nurses who applied to work in the public health sector between January and August are being scrutinised.
About 50 Maltese applicants have already started working following the same call for applications.
State hospitals are suffering from a serious nursing shortage and are estimated to need some 500 to 700 nurses to relieve the burden on current staff.
“It is expected that the public recruitment procedure for the first groups of foreign nurses will be concluded by the end of September,” Director General for Health Services John Cachia said.
Work was already under way to obtain work permits and visa clearance for the nurses, and once that process is finalised, the chosen nurses would be invited to come over and start offering services to patients.
“That includes tackling vacancies in wards, strengthening reliever pools and the development of new services,” Dr Cachia said.
Health Minister Joe Cassar had described the recruitment process as a lengthy one, due to applicants being scrutinised by an autonomous nursing council. The council said it was committed to providing the best service possible by vetting candidates’ qualifications while making sure the nurses were able to communicate without any problems.
The majority of the 250 foreign applications were submitted mainly by non EU-nationals, a ministry spokesman said. The nurses’ council received 300 applications between January and August, which included 50 applications from local nurses, after the government issued a call which will remain open until 2011, for nurses of any nationality to apply for the job.
The nurses’ shortage problem has been at the forefront lately as it triggered industrial action by the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses.
The union is alleging that foreign nurses will only solve the staff shortage problem in the short term, and the government should be looking into more long term solutions, like doing away with the numerus clausus at university for nursing courses.
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mario aquilina
Sep 29th 2010, 17:10
Our State Of The Art Hospital problems is not just shortage of Nurses.
Last week I went into the dentist department at Mater Dei, and the dentist there, could not put my crown back on, because she said, that she was out of cement.
What a sorry state. Do I believe her? No No No. It was her way of getting rid of me.
Six members of staff, chatting, leaning against the wall, doing bugger all.
My biggest mistake in life was that I never employed myself with a government department. Money for old rope.
Louise Vella
Sep 29th 2010, 14:43
This is LEGAL migration. We don't have enough qualified Maltese nurses. So we get qualified nurses from abroad, whatever their colour or creed. But qualified foreign nurses do not come by boat from Libya. Those are the other type.
colin stanley
Sep 29th 2010, 13:11
If we have a shortage of nurses, why not bring them from the EU., are these non EU nurses going to be here permamently or temporary, are they going to be allowed to bring all their relatives too .!!!!!!
Steve Demicoli
Sep 29th 2010, 22:15
why not bring them from the EU?
The answer is simple. Because the wages for Maltese nurses are an utter misery - among the lowest paid in the EU. No EU nurses in their right mind would want to come to work here
j.camenzuli
Sep 29th 2010, 13:04
Before we joined the EU the Uk made me resit all my final exams City & Guilds exams and GCE as the certificate obtained in Malta were not accepted then. Since we are in the EU, Malta should make all Non EU workers retake their qualifing final exams here before being employed this includes non EU Doctors and Nurses. thereby confirming they are truly qualified for the job applied for
mario gellel
Sep 29th 2010, 12:36
SO THERE ARE NO NURSES OUT OF WORK IN THE EU????
SO THE ONLY OPTION IS TO EMPLOY THIRD WORLD NURSES??
SO THIS IS THE START OF CHEAP LABOUR IN THE HEALTH SECTOR???
SO THIS IS THE START OR THE DISMANTLING OF THE FREE HEALTH CARE??
ONLY GONZI CAN ANSWER THIS.
roma balami
Feb 14th 2011, 06:10
I agree with the brainstorming on the issues of nursing shortage in Malta.
I disagree on the same level as commenter should broaden up the mentality of underestimating global people in concept of globalization in education, profession and settlement. Speaking about so called third world nurses according to Mario Gellel, I would like to request you to just find out the professional records and outcomes of low payments comparing to nationally qualified nurses like Maltese Nurses and speak about the issues in your country and countries like United states of America, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia. Definitely moderate level of nurses come to Malta from developing countries and rarely come from those countries I mentioned just above because employers can not pay the rate for them what may be expected as illustrated in some comments here.
Thanks for this opportunity as a foreign nurse studying Msc in the UK.
Joseph Vassallo
Sep 29th 2010, 10:53
I hope our government is aware that the UK NHS has a history of being hoodwinked by bogus foreign doctors (more than a hundred) whom it employed on the strength of counterfeit credentials. Some were employed for years and were only discovered after they blew some major gaff causing in-depth investigation into their training. One GP practised for at least 30 years before being unmasked.
Apparently in some countries, falsified credentials are easy to come by and for this reason, our government must ensure that each applicant is individually interviewed and tested at length by consultants who examine our own student doctors and nurses.