A total of 38 new nurses graduated in two years from an MCAST course that is seeing the government fork out more than a quarter of a million euros annually to a UK university.

MCAST offers the degree programme in nursing studies in conjunction with Newcastle’s Northumbria University.

The UK university provides training and supervision for Maltese lecturers, external examiners who verify student end-of-year results and access to the university’s specialised software and academic programme.

The collaboration started in 2017, meaning the government has so far footed bills amounting to €1.3 million

The international collaboration sets the government back €260,000 annually, former education minister Justyne Caruana confirmed in a reply to a parliamentary question last October. This does not include the Maltese lecturers’ salaries.

The collaboration started in 2017, meaning the government has so far footed bills amounting to €1.3 million.

Being a three-year course, the first group of nurses graduated in 2020 and two groups have graduated so far, totalling 38 new nurses, a spokesperson for the education ministry said.

This year will see 36 new graduating nurses while applications for the upcoming academic year are being assessed, he added.

All students who have enrolled in the course since 2020 will graduate with a double-badged degree from both MCAST and Northumbria University.

The collaboration is part of the government’s efforts to mitigate nursing shortages that have been plaguing the health sector for years.

Last month, Health Minister Chris Fearne said 111 new nurses had started working within Malta’s health system after graduating earlier this year but it is estimated an additional 400 nurses are needed.

The number of those leaving the profession never matches those joining, resulting in widespread shortages across the health system. The problem has recently been exacerbated after nurses were reportedly poached from abroad.