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600 new nurses being recruited for Staffordshire hospitals

600 nurses are being recruited over 12 months to ease the pressure on wards at two Staffordshire hospitals.

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It follows the recruitment of 120 newly-qualified nurses. Health bosses are also looking abroad for staff.

The news comes in the wake of last year's massive recruitment drive for 800 nurses after University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust took over maternity, emergency trauma surgery and children's services from the former Stafford Hospital.

But chiefs at the trust, which runs Stafford's County Hospital and Royal Stoke University Hospital, said it is not enough.

Already this month two open days aimed at signing up nurses have been held, targeting roles in operating theatres and neurology, particularly the treatment of stroke patients.

Around 500 people attended in total, with more than 100 people applying for jobs as a result.

Over the past 12 months the trust has recruited from Spain, Italy, Portugal and Croatia due to a shortage of home-grown nursing graduates.

Trish Rowson, director of nursing for quality and safety, said: "Over the past 18 months the services the trust provides at County Hospital and Royal Stoke University Hospital have been growing.

"We are fortunate to have two universities with good nursing schools in this area and this September we recruited around 120 newly-qualified nurses.

"However, this will still not be enough to cover our growth and that is why we have expanded our recruitment."

Latest figures show that in the 12 months up to March this year, staff treated 46,000 more outpatients and 3,500 extra day cases than in the previous year. Admissions among people over 75 from A&E also rose by a third. More wards and departments are being opened to keep up with demand.

Despite this, Ms Rowlands said the hospitals' nurse to patient ratios compared favourably to trusts of a similar size in other parts of the UK.

"This means means our patients are getting the best care possible from our hard-working staff. As well as this, the trust recently held two incredibly successful open days to recruit nurses and other healthcare professionals in the theatres and stroke specialities," said Ms Rowlands.

The trust is specifically looking to take on senior nurses, critical care nurses and nursing assistants. Earlier this year it recruited 150 nurses from the Philippine.

The expansion of the UHNM trust followed the dissolution of the Mid-Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust in the wake of the Francis report which concluded it was not 'clinically or 'financially sustainable'.

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