Half of all third-country nationals working as nurses in Malta's private hospitals leave or change job in the first six months of arriving, according to a study carried out by the Malta Chamber of Commerce.

Around 72 per cent of nurses working within the private sector are foreign, non-EU citizens, the study noted.

The study also showed that 63 per cent of care workers, who help vulnerable people live as comfortably as possible, are third-country nationals, of which nine per cent leave Malta in the first six months.

“This is how critical the situation is in terms of human resources and nursing staff,” said Marthese Portelli CEO of The Malta Chamber.

She was speaking during a conference on healthcare organised by the Malta Chamber and EY Malta, the third event in the Industry Focus Series, this time dedicated to the health sector.

Malta Chamber CEO Marthese Portelli

During the event, the Chamber's CEO spoke of "nurses" and "care workers", though the lobby group later clarified that its figures only took into account private clinics and hospitals. 

Part of the Malta Chamber presentation.

In her address, Portelli mapped out the challenges faced by Malta’s healthcare sector, one that relies on third-country nationals since the number of Maltese graduates are not enough to make up for the growing demands of the sector in a country with an ageing population.

Like other industries, the healthcare industry is struggling to source employees. Apart from nurses and care worker shortages, there were challenges in finding other professionals since this was an industry that "cannot have any salesperson" - they had to come from the medical profession.

Malta Chamber CEO Marthese Portelli

Three other hurdles

Portelli said the industry faced three additional hurdles: First came the administrative challenges that included the need to continue addressing the bureaucracy in the granting of permits for third country nationals.

There was also the issue of competition where the government poached workers from the private sector.

Third was the issue of attractiveness - for example, Malta’s family reunification process was not as attractive as other countries. In fact, family reunification and bureaucracy were listed as the main reasons by third-country nationals who left Malta for the UK during a mass exodus last year.

In light of these facts, the chamber recommended ensuring that adequate resources were invested to ensure that the Nurses and Midwifery Council had a set timeframe for processing applications, addressing visa delays and looking into granting a three-month interim work permit while longer-term permits were cleared.

There were also various challenges that had a direct link on supply chains, including Malta’s connectivity issues, economies of scale, increasing transport costs, product shelf life and energy prices.

Care homes recovered just a third of staff lost to pandemic

Speaking during a panel discussion, Natalie Briffa Farrugia, chairperson of the Vassallo Group, which has CareMalta Group under its cap, said the health sector was attractive in terms of fulfilment and satisfaction but was a very demanding job. She said care homes only recovered a third of the staff they lost during the pandemic.

Joanna Delia, Founder of People and Skin, spoke about the dwindling respect of the public for doctors and other healthcare professionals.

“We still have 28 to 30-hour shifts, which is outrageous and shows a lack of respect for the humanity of healthcare workers,” she said, adding that one issue that had to be discussed was the xenophobia faced by foreign workers.

She said harassment of female employees was also very real.

“There is impunity and hardly any cases end up with a consequence… A lot of women suffer and don’t seek and this is a key factor in pushing people out - of the country and the profession," she said.

Deborah Portelli, human resources manager at Brown’s Pharma Limited, said that pharmacy brings a lot of job satisfaction but pharmacists work within a retail setting that traditionally involves long, inflexible hours.

The shortage of pharmacists often led to longer hours and more burnout. Addressing shortages would allow more flexibility and work-life balance.

She added that most healthcare workers were women - who were still traditionally taking up the caring role at home - placed further stress on employees. School and daycare hours, for example, did not cater to pharmacy shifts. 

David Abela, director of Eurobridge Shipping Services Ltd, spoke about the need to make logistical changes to speed up and facilitate the importation of goods into Malta, especially health-related imports.

He said transport costs in Malta were six to seven times more expensive per kilometre than in other EU countries. Customs in Malta still insisted on checking all EU cargo and importers faced a range of added costs that risked pushing Maltese importers out of business, he said.

Correction September 13, 2022: A previous version stated that the figures referred to all nurses. The Malta Chamber later clarified that it was only referring to private sector nurses and carers.