Watch: New Dubai Centre Is Training Asian Carers Before They Come To Malta
A new training centre in Dubai has been opened to provide carers with a week-long intensive course before they start working in Maltese hospitals and health centres.
The Healthmark Training Centre is the brainchild of the Kore Group, a joint venture between two major Maltese business groups – the db Group and JCL Holdings Limited.
Carers hail from Asian countries, mostly India and Nepal, and are first pre-screened for their qualifications and English language skills. If they are accepted for a job in Malta, they can start their training at the Dubai centre, which includes a training room and a hospital simulation room.
View this post on Instagram
The point is to bridge potential gaps between their experience in Asian healthcare systems and what they will be facing in Malta – such as infection control practices, safe lifting and handling practices, handling patients with dementia, food handling and hygiene.
They will also be taught a few basic Maltese words, such as ġuħ (hunger) and uġigħ (pain), so they will be able to slightly understand patients who don’t speak any English.
Kore Group CEO Charlotte Sant Portanier was frank in the admission that the majority of these carers (some 70-80%) view Malta as a stepping stone to other Western countries.
“We must be extremely aware that there is a shortage of healthcare professionals in the western world and we are all competing from the same regions and areas,” she told Lovin Malta.
“The likes of the UK, Ireland, the Netherlands, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada view this category of workers who have exposure working in an EU country and who have been trained to the standards of an EU country as even more attractive.”
Sant Portanier said that such countries tend to be more appealing than Malta because of their higher salaries and because they offer easier transition in terms of flights, accommodation, and family reunifications.
However, she said a growing number actually return to Malta after realising that the grass isn’t always greener on the other side.
While it is common to hear complaints about foreign nurses, Sant Portanier pointed out that there simply aren’t enough Maltese people to cater for the country’s healthcare demands.
Kore Group CEO Charlotte Sant Portanier
“It’s a reality that struck us more recently, but it struck other western countries some time ago, and they had to adapt,” she said. “Similarly, we have had to adapt. It’s not easy at all, especially for elderly people, if your nurse and carer might not be able to speak Maltese.”
Besides teaching carers basic Maltese phonetics, mitigation measures include enrolling them into medical Maltese courses after they land in Malta and ensuring at least one Maltese speaker is always available on shift.
The Kore Group’s next plan is to launch the Healthmark Academy in San Ġwann, to provide carers with continuous internationally-recognised training.
The academy will be equipped with several facilities, including lecture rooms, a seminar hall, an applied nutrition lab, a hospital simulation lab with advanced medical equipment, private office, and a recreation area.
How would you like Malta’s healthcare services to improve?
READ NEXT: Watch: Protestors Boo Roberta Metsola As Andre Callus Accuses Her Of Having Blood On Her Hands
