Nurses from non-EU countries wanting to work in Malta will have to fork out about €600 to be registered, according to a new legal notice.

Issued last week, the legal notice enables nurses and midwives defined as third country nationals to work in Malta provided they follow a compulsory adaptation course and sit for an examination, which will cost €400. They must also pay an additional fee of €192.50 to submit an application to the Nursing and Midwifery Council.

Their colleagues from EU countries will only have to pay €13.20 to apply for registration.

Times of Malta reported last month that nurses and midwives who were not trained in the EU had, for almost a year, not been allowed to work in Malta despite persisting staff shortages at hospitals and clinics. The Health Ministry had said a legal notice allowing such professionals to work in Malta would be issued.

Health Minister Chris Fearne had told the Times of Malta about 70 nurses would join the public health sector once the change allowing them to follow the adaptation course came into force.

While Mr Fearne had insisted the government had acted soon after the nursing council had flagged an issue with the law regulating payment, sources had pointed out that the problem had been ongoing for close to a year.

The council would not say why it had not flagged the issue before.

The adaptation course is being offered by the university and the Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology and will have a duration of six months. Nurses would only be able to apply for registration after completing the course.

The sources told Times of Malta that though the Mcast had set up the course before the legal notice had even been officially announced, evidently after being informed in advance that such changes would be taking place, the University of Malta was left in the dark on the matter.