Hospitals launch recruitment drive to stem £400,000 a month agency costs

This week the Trust announced it is recruiting to strengthen numbers in an aim to ‘further improve the quality of care provided to patients’ and reduce expensive agency costs.

Susan Bowler, Executive Director for Nursing and Quality at Sherwood Forest Hospitals, said: “High quality patient care is our primary aim and this recruitment campaign will allow us to increase the number of permanent nurses working within the Trust, while maintaining safe staffing levels.

“Being able to employ nurses on permanent contracts allows us to train and develop our staff.

“We want our nurses to be the best they can be and that’s why we offer supportive management and a range of training opportunities, as well as a clean and modern environment to work in.

“As a Trust we know the challenges we face, but since the Keogh Review in 2013 our nurses have risen to those challenges and made significant improvements.

“We are really proud of the close-knit team spirit and the confidence our nurses have in each other to provide the best patient care.”

a trust spokesman has confirmed the Trust on average is spending £400,000 a month on agency nurses.

Registered nurses are being sought across King’s Mill, Newark and Mansfield Community hospitals, with a particular focus on the Emergency Care and Medicine Division, including geriatrics, gastroenterology, respiratory and the Emergency Admissions Unit.

As part of the recruitment drive the Trust will be holding an open day for registered nurses at King’s Mill Hospital on Saturday 25 April from 10am to 3pm, held in the main entrance of the hospital.