Stockport NHS Foundation Trust is investing more than £5m in recruiting a total of 142 more nurses & care assistants for hospital wards at Stepping Hill Hospital.

The Board of Directors at the Trust have approved a business case to divert money that is currently being spent on bank and agency staff to recruit substantive registered nurses and nursing assistant roles.  The move will support teams in ensuring patients receive a high standard quality of care for inpatient areas at the hospital; in the medical and surgical wards. Having appropriate ward establishments ensures continuity of patient care, and is also a more effective use of NHS funding. 

In the last year the Trust has also recruited more than 50 nurses from overseas, and also recruited over 80 new nursing healthcare assistants and associates, making a real impact in reducing vacancy levels as part of its ongoing drive to improve the quality and safety of local services.

Nicola Firth, Chief Nurse at Stockport NHS Foundation Trust said “Our nursing staff have been doing an outstanding job over the past year through the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, national and local lockdowns, and the ongoing seasonal pressures faced by the NHS as a whole.  We are delighted to be able to announce these substantive nursing positions which will help us to provide excellent safe and compassionate care for patients in our hospital, as we emerge from lockdown and help prepare for the services of the future.”