Health trust looking to take on 50 new nurses

Dozens of new nurses could be appointed in the next few months, officials have revealed.
Marion Dickson, executive director for nursing.Marion Dickson, executive director for nursing.
Marion Dickson, executive director for nursing.

Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust has revealed an ambition to recruit 50 new nurses in the next few months.

Marion Dickson, executive director for nursing, provided an update on nurse staffing at the trust’s recent board meeting.

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A trust spokesperson added: “Ensuring that we have enough nurses to provide high-quality care to our patients is incredibly important for us and while the rates for nurses on shift vary from day to day and ward to ward, appropriate mitigations are always in place to ensure safe staffing levels.”

Marion also confirmed that a significant amount of effort is being put into recruitment campaigns and other initiatives to train more people up and grow their own through the nursing associate route.

“We also work hard to support our staff so that they are happy and healthy in the workplace,” she said.

Elsewhere, the trust’s data on patient experience continues to show high levels of satisfaction with the care received, although real-time staff monitoring has shown some drops in recent months.

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Annie Laverty, the Trust’s chief experience officer, said: “This slight increase in the numbers of staff feeling less engaged and more exhausted is not a surprise given that it comes on the back of a very difficult, high-pressured and unprecedented 14 months.

“There have been a range of initiatives to support staff wellbeing and mental health introduced during the pandemic, over and above the measures that were already in place.

"These measures, which include access to counselling and the development of wellbeing spaces, remain in place to further support colleagues.”