£4m drive to boost staff levels and cut temporary workers at Walsall Manor Hospital
Extra nurses are to be recruited at Walsall Manor Hospital under a £4 million drive to boost staff levels and cut temporary worker costs.
Health chiefs are looking at hire more than 80 nurses and 35 care support workers across the wards.
The hospital, managed by Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust, has been pushed to capacity in recent weeks with it being forced to declare a major incident at one stage.
The trust already brought in 100 new nurses last year.
Bosses say the investment will expand Walsall Manor Hospital to the size of New Cross Hospital in Wolverhampton and Russells Hall Hospital in Dudley.
It will see more staff on days and evenings and amount to an investment of more than £3.1m on nurses and almost £900,000 on community support workers.
It will result in more workers in around 20 wards, and save up to £600,000 on the bill for temporary and agency staff.
A report from director of nursing Kathryn Halford to the board said it could take another year to fill all the nursing posts following the previous recruitment drive.
She said: "The past two years have seen an increase in the acuity of patients and for some people an increased length of stay.
"This has resulted in increased pressure within some teams and almost all ward areas at night.
"The result has been increased pressure and subsequent booking of bank and agency nurses."
She added: "Currently, the trust is supporting the delivery of safe care by using the temporary workforce. The reliance of extra capacity has increased this reliance on temporary staff.
"By recruiting the recommended levels of staff a reduction in the run rate for temporary staff can be achieved. Employing permanent staff across these areas will improve the consistency of care provided."
It emerged earlier this month that emergency admissions have rocketed by more than a quarter in the last two years.
The under-pressure hospital faced one of its busiest periods in late December and early January when it was pushed to full capacity.
The hospital was forced to declare a major incident at the height of its problems, with more staff drafted in to help and extra bed space created.
The trust has been battling against the costs of using agency, bank and locum workers.
