Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham visited Stepping Hill Hospital to see how graduates for a new form of nursing role are providing care for patients.

Mr Burnham spoke to some of the newly qualified Nursing Associates, and was shown a presentation on how they have successfully completed their training and how they will work with colleagues in providing care.

The Nursing Associates are a new registered nursing role at Stockport NHS Foundation Trust, which runs both Stepping Hill Hospital and services in the community, where they now work alongside registered nurses to deliver care for patients and the public. They were among the first in the county to qualify for the new role.

They were recruited from existing healthcare assistants as part of a scheme to provide a new caring role, bridging the gap between healthcare assistants and registered nurses. They work alongside these colleagues to deliver hands-on care, focusing on ensuring patients getting the compassionate care they need. They also allow registered nurses to focus on more complex clinical duties.

One of the team Paula Campbell-Powell, has also received the Lisa Bayliss-Pratt award from Professor Lisa Bayliss-Pratt, Chief Nurse for Health Education England, for Paula’s outstanding commitment to care, one of only two in Greater Manchester to do so.

Mr Burnham also took a short tour of some of Stepping Hill Hospital’s clinical areas, including short stay unit for older people, and its A&E department, which has recently received a major renovation to enhance its environment for patients.

Andy Burnham said “Stepping Hill Hospital is clearly a pioneer with the new Nursing Associates and it’s a been a pleasure to talk to the new recruits as they take to their new role, which will be an improvement for both patients and their fellow staff. It’s great to see this success in action.”

Louise Robson, Chief Executive of Stockport NHS Foundation Trust said “We’re very proud of our new Nursing Associates, who are now among the first in the country to take on this exciting new caring role between healthcare assistants and registered nurses, and helping us to provide outstanding care alongside their nursing colleagues. It was a real pleasure to welcome the Mayor so he could meet them and find out more about the valuable work that they do.”