Spanish nurses are expected to be employed in State hospitals as part of a recruitment drive to address the health sector’s staff shortage.
A Maltese delegation flew to Spain last month to interview prospective candidates with the intention of recruiting around 80 nurses on a definite contract, a Health Parliamentary Secretariat spokeswoman told Times of Malta.
This initiative comes in the wake of a study published last April by The Sunday Times of Malta, which concluded that the majority of Maltese nurses were suffering from burnout.
The report, compiled by clinical psychologist and university lecturer Dr Michael Galea, had warned that this could lead to a situation in which patients would be treated as numbers.
Replying to questions by this newspaper, the spokeswoman stressed that the primary objective remained to recruit Maltese nurses.
However, the government was seeking alternative ways to strengthen the pool of available nurses in its quest to provide the best possible care, she added.
The spokeswoman said the nurses would be deployed according to exigencies.
A good number of Maltese are not able to describe their medical condition in English, so the language problem will remain
Sources told this newspaper that last year two highly qualified Spanish and German nurses had to leave after they were prevented from working in the Accident and Emergency Department at Mater Dei Hospital, as they could not speak Maltese.
As a result, questions are being raised about how the authorities will address the language barrier and other possible constraints that could arise when foreign healthcare workers have to communicate with patients.
Asked about this, the spokeswoman said that, as well as being proficient in English, candidates would have to attend a programme to familiarise themselves with Maltese.
“A specific induction programme is being devised to allow the coverage of the Maltese language for these prospective nurses,” she said.
While welcoming the initiative intended to address some of the concerns nurses have been raising for years, the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses president Paul Pace was cautious.
“A good number of Maltese are not able to describe their medical condition in English, so the language problem will remain,” Mr Pace said, when contacted.
As a result, employing foreign nurses in the health sector would pose a number of constraints, he added.
Mr Pace pointed out that in some EU countries, such as Germany and Cyprus, foreign nurses were expected to speak the national language fluently.
“Such an entry requirement makes sense as nurses are not dealing with machines, but with human beings,” Mr Pace argued.
He also questioned the long-term viability of employing foreign nurses, arguing they would not hesitate to pack up and leave for another country, if a good job opportunity presented itself.
“In the case of Spanish nurses, the day that the Iberian country starts to recover from recession, they would probably go back home as the working conditions in Malta are not that lucrative,” Mr Pace said.