60 nurses hired to tackle staffing crisis at Russells Hall Hospital
A Black Country hospital has taken on 60 nurses and midwives in a bid to tackle an ongoing staffing crisis.
Health chiefs at Russells Hall Hospital have hired an extra 38 nursing graduates, 12 children’s nurses and 10 midwives over the last few weeks.
It comes after The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the hospital, held an ‘unsuccessful’ recruitment drive in the Philippines.
Bosses say there is still a major staffing shortage and another attempt to fill roles will take place at the Pensnett Road site on Thursday.
Siobhan Jordan, interim chief nurse at the trust, said: “Unfortunately, our visit to the Philippines was not successful and we are now focusing our search closer to home, with the hopes of attracting some of the fantastic home-grown talent we know is out there.
“Despite a widely recognised national nurse and midwife shortage across the NHS, we have successfully recruited 38 new nursing graduates, 12 new children’s nurses and 10 new midwives in the last few weeks.
“To support our permanent workforce, we also have a team of dedicated health professionals who prefer to work more flexibly on our staff bank.”
It comes after staffing levels at the hospital had not been at a level considered safe at times between October and April this year.
This was due to recruitment struggles, sickness and intense A&E pressure. It sparked an desperate search to fill vacancies, including efforts to hire overseas.
Ms Jordan added: “We do welcome applications from nurses of all nationalities and already have a vibrant community of international nurses here in Dudley.
“We know there are many people who are qualified nurses in their home countries who, due to differences in the registration process here in the UK, are currently working as support workers or care assistants.
"We are committed to helping these nurses return to practice and have launched a dedicated International Pre-registration Nurse Programme to support them in gaining Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) registration.
"This is a paid programme and, on completion, they will receive a permanent contract with the trust.”
Anyone wanting to attend Thursday’s recruitment event can confirm their attendance on Facebook by visiting www.facebook.com/DudleyGroupNHS/events
