New Cross Hospital bosses to recruit 170 nurses from Europe
Bosses at Wolverhampton's New Cross Hospital will turn to Italy, Greece and Cyprus when they recruit 170 nurses as part of a controversial £3.6 million recruitment drive.
The search for nurses has gone abroad because of a shortage of qualified nurses in the UK.
Initially it was thought the new recruits would come from India, the Philippines and China. But chiefs will now travel to southern Europe, citing a better general standard of English among people living there for the decision to snub Asia.
Only English-speaking candidates will be interviewed as part of a rigorous screening process, with the first interviews taking place in Athens in April.
It is hoped the new nurses will start working at the hospital from May onwards.
Chief executive David Loughton said: "We've been very successful recruiting consultants from Italy in the past."
Denise Harnin, the trust's director of human resources, confirmed that language skills would be part of the screening process.
She added: "When our team arrives out there for interviews we'll have high calibre candidates who have already been screened."
A recent Care Quality Commission (CQC) report criticised the hospital's staffing levels. Mr Loughton said the large scale recruitment would go some way to addressing that.
He added: "By the time the CQC come back for an inspection we'll have made significant inroads into the staffing issue."
Previously Mr Loughton had promised that no local nurse – including those training at the University of Wolverhampton – would be turned away from the hospital if they were up to standard.
He said he wanted to make assurances to local people there would always be jobs for them. But local nurses will form part of the hospital's usual recruitment process, with the extra 170 nurses being hired on top of the hospital's usual staff recruitment.
Around 15 per cent of the New Cross' nurses leave each year, mostly due to retirement or taking jobs at other hospitals and Mr Loughton said he would always prefer to take on local people.
Staff are currently being re-routed into different departments at New Cross as the hospital copes with increasing demand from Stafford Hospital. Fifteen new ward beds are being added to ease strain on Stafford.