Nursing numbers at James Cook and the Friarage hospitals have been bolstered with the arrival of a new intake.
A total of 73 newly qualified nurses began work at the South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust this month, a meeting of the organisation’s board of directors was told.
Also, 12 international nurses from overseas are starting with the trust this month.
A further cohort of international nurses are due to arrive in November, to complete this year’s recruitment.
Trust joint chairman Professor Derek Bell asked what was being done at a high level to make sure international nurses were made to feel welcome and were looked after.
A nursing representative described how a senior nurse was allocated to look after this group, while a ‘meet and greet’ day and individual sessions with nurses were also organised to help them settle in and access any support they may need.
The trust, which operates Middlesbrough’s James Cook University Hospital and Northallerton’s Friarage Hospital, has about 9,000 staff of which approximately 2,780 are contracted registered nurses or midwives.
New intakes help ease the pressure on staffing especially when existing nurses leave with the trust still having a number of vacant registered nursing posts.
A check on its website for nursing and midwifery vacancies showed 32 positions currently being recruited for.
Nursing turnover – the proportion of nurses leaving the trust set against those in current employment – decreased from 11.79 % in June to 9.72% in July, a level of turnover said to be among the lowest in the country.
A safe staffing report said nursing and midwifery continued to be impacted with short notice unavailability associated with covid-19 isolation and absence.
But it said the percentage of shifts being filled against planned staffing across the trust was 94.9%, “demonstrating good compliance with safer staffing”.
Meanwhile, eight new specialist cancer care posts have been created at the trust in partnership with Macmillan Cancer Support.
More than £824,000 is being invested to ensure patients receive the most advanced cancer care with access to specialist nurses every step of the way.
Six new permanent posts and two pilot roles have been put in place to work across James Cook and the Friarage.
These include specialist nurses and cancer care co-ordinators.
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