UK university to run course in Malta to help country’s national nursing shortage
A UK university will be training nurses in Malta as part of a response to tackle a nursing shortage.
Northumbria University will deliver a three-year degree on the island as part of a £1.8 million programme backed by the Maltese government and the Maltese Union of Midwives and Nurses (MUMN).
It will initially see 30 students enrolled per year on the full-time BSc (Hons) nursing studies degree programme, in collaboration with Malta College of Arts Science and Technology (MCAST). The university said it expected numbers to rise 'significantly' over time.
Chronic shortage
Academics from Northumbria will be training nursing students in Malta throughout the year, working alongside the MCAST lecturers.
Its pre-registration nursing programmes were the first in the UK to be accredited by the RCN.
Earlier this year the MUMN warned Malta risked ‘building health facilities with no nursing staff to run them’ due to the chronic shortage of qualified staff.
Meet local demand
In 2015 its general secretary estimated clinics in the country needed 400 new nurses to meet local demand.
Funding for the project is coming from Singapore company, Vitals Global Healthcare, which is also building a new clinical skills teaching facility at St Luke’s Medical hospital on the island as part of a £180m investment by the Maltese government.
Associate professor in nursing, midwifery and health at Northumbria Alison Machin said: ‘As well as helping to train and educate Malta's future nurses to the highest possible standards, we are helping the government improve the quality of healthcare by providing more nurses into the system.’
Further information
- Unique nursing partnership forged between UK and China
- Public health sector short of 400 nurses – MUMN General Secretary Colin Galea
- Nurses' shortage is critical, union warns
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