Wolverhampton's New Cross Hospital hit by nursing shortage
A nursing shortage is causing a headache for chiefs at New Cross Hospital with 251 jobs to fill.
Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust is now in a race against time to recruit more staff as the busy winter period looms.
The Trust said: “Recruitment continues to be challenging. A campaign to recruit more health care assistants is due to commence and will enable the Trust to respond to winter pressures.”
There are 184 full-time vacancies for qualified and registered nurses, including midwives, 44 vacancies for unqualified health care assistants and 23 other types of vacancies.
Vice-chairman of Wolverhampton council’s health scrutiny committee, Conservative councillor Wendy Thompson said: “This is a considerable shortage of such important members of staff. It is essential that we get the word out there to encourage more people to consider a career in nursing.”
The hospital has already gone overseas in its hunt for extra staff including trips to the Philippines.
The report continued: “A total of 48 nurses are in post with two more set to arrive in September, leaving the potential for a further four in the pipeline. There are also 53 candidates from Nigeria that may be due to start as clinical fellows soon.”
But it still has a large number of vacancies as the winter pressures start to pile up.
The hospital is also facing the challenge of a maternity unit that is threatening to go over its capacity of 5,000 babies a year because it is having to take expectant mothers from places outside the city like Walsall.
A spokesman for The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust said: “Recruitment of nurses is a challenge across the NHS. We are doing all we can to fill nursing vacancies and while we do so safe staffing levels are adhered to by deploying our bank staff nurses and by overtime shifts.”
