(Adds PN's statement)

The 140 nurses who recently qualified from the University’s Faculty of Health Sciences and who have already applied through the recent call for nurses will be called for employment in the coming days, the Health Ministry said.

It said that current public services procedures to process such applications may take two to three months because of the large number of nurses who need to be interviewed.

But to strengthen and further consolidate the present health care services and plan for future developments, the health and social solidarity ministries felt the need to recruit these nurses with immediate effect.

The Constitution allows that during the process of recruitment, employees can be engaged temporarily for a period of two months. Throughout this time interval, nurses will help to alleviate the current workforce vacancies.  At the end of this period they will all eventually be employed on a permanent basis following the conclusion of the recruitment process.

The decision was welcomed by the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses. It said it took time, energy and effort to convince the Health Division on the matter and hoped the same criteria would now be used for the engagement of midwives.

Health sector being administered chaotically - PN

In a statement, the Nationalist Party said the delay in the recruitment of nurses was leaving a negative impact on patients and on nurses in service who had to carry a bigger burden.

This was besides the fact that many new graduate nurses were idle at home.

The PN said the Health Ministry was trying to shift the blame for the state of affairs on the Finance Minister saying that the financial approval for the recruitment of nurses was only given in August.

But, as in the case of medicines, the disorganised and chaotic way with which the government was administering the sector was being uncovered.