Mental health services are facing a shortage of around 60 to 80 nurses, health minister Chris Fearne said on Thursday.

Kick-starting a recruitment drive in collaboration with the Malta Union of Nurses and Midwives (MUMN), Mr Fearne said that despite significant personnel increases in recent years, there was still a constant need for more nurses to keep up with expansions in the health service.

With respect to Mount Carmel Hospital, the minister said the shortage was currently being addressed through agency nurses and overtime arrangements, with additional recruitment - particularly of psychiatric nurses - being sought as a more sustainable solution.

Mr Fearne added that this was part of improvements at the mental health hospital which would ensure better working conditions for staff and a better quality of care for patients.

There has been a net increase of 552 nurses - from 2,694 to 3,244 - in the last five years, according to Mr Fearne. The government plans to recruit another 200 nurses in the next few years, the majority from the University of Malta nursing course, as well as courses operated by Northumbria University.

The recruitment drive is also targeting qualified nurses who have left the profession, as well as nurses from overseas, including both EU and third-country nationals.

The recruitment drive will also include a school outreach programme, which this year will see the publication of an illustrated book in Maltese on the life of Florence Nightingale, considered the founder of modern nursing, and her connection with Malta.