Local hospitals spend millions covering nursing vacancies

Local hospitals are spending millions on covering nursing shifts - £1.78million was spent covering shifts last year at Fairfield General whilst £3.7million was spent at Royal Oldham, £5.5million at North Manchester and £294,678 at Rochdale Infirmary.

The NHS Trust that runs the hospitals had 82 qualified nurse vacancies at Fairfield General, but a surplus of 18 unqualified nurses, no vacancies at the Infirmary, 124 vacancies at Royal Oldham and 142 at North Manchester.

The former Pennine Trust is now part of The Northern Care Alliance NHS Group along with Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust. Together, they employ over 17,000 staff. The group operates five hospitals, Salford Royal, The Royal Oldham, Fairfield General in Bury, Rochdale Infirmary and North Manchester General as well as community services.

Tyrone Roberts, director of nursing at the Bury and Rochdale Care Organisation, which manages Fairfield General Hospital, said: “Over the last year, we have managed to reduce the nurse vacancy rate at Fairfield General Hospital in Bury by seven percent and we now have more nurses per ward than last year.

“This is a great success for the Bury & Rochdale Care Organisation and testament to the hard work we have put into recruiting new nurses, retaining our existing staff and ensuring all our wards are safely staffed.

“We have recruited eight new qualified nurses recently who will be starting work at Fairfield General Hospital this month. We have also recruited another 18 nurses who will start work later in the year, and 14 nursing associates are due to start in January.”

“We have a great team spirit at Fairfield General Hospital and more and more nurses are starting to realise what a great place it is to work.”

“194 nurses and midwives attended our first Northern Care Alliance nursing and midwifery recruitment careers fair held on 9 May and a total of 125 job offers were made at our Care Organisations in Salford, Oldham, Bury, Rochdale and North Manchester.

“The amount of money we spend on agency nurses and the amount of agency nurses we use has also fallen across the Northern Care Alliance this month.”

Nicola Firth, Director of Nursing and Interim Chief Officer at The Oldham Care Organisation, which manages The Royal Oldham Hospital, said: “At Oldham Care Organisation we recognise that good staffing levels not only improve patient care, they also provide staff with a better work experience.  

“We have made significant progress over recent months in reducing vacancy rates and, in particular, our medical consultant vacancy rates are comparatively low.

"Later this year, we will be welcoming many additional nurses including around 70 newly qualified nurses.  

"We are introducing new ways to introduce them to Oldham Care Organisation and support them at this early stage of their career.

“We have also made sustained improvement in our retention rates through a programme of activity which includes flexible working and providing focussed advice enabling staff to develop their career.  

“We pride ourselves on being a friendly and positive place to work where people with a passion for caring can thrive.”