THE recruitment programme at East Lancashire’s hospital’s has been given a further boost after 80 new student nurses began work on the wards.

Bosses at the Royal Blackburn and Burnley General have been heavily focussed on recruitment in the last year, as hospitals across the country compete for staff amid a national shortage of qualified nurses.

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East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust (ELHT) has often struggled to attract staff to move to the area, so has put significant efforts into building links with the University of Central Lancashire.

The latest intake began their studies last September and this month started working across the trust’s five sites, which also include the community hospitals in Clitheroe, Accrington and Pendle.

Chief nurse Christine Pearson said: “We welcome all our new student nurses and wish them well in their careers here in East Lancashire.

“It is important that the public know of the trust’s determination to ensure a safe and effective number of nurses on duty at all times so they have confidence in the services being provided in our hospitals and in the community.

“As more nurses choose to build their career with East Lancashire Hospitals, the trust can reduce the number, and cost, of nurses we need to employ through agencies.”

As previously reported, the total number of qualified nurses employed by ELHT has increased by 157 since April 2013, to the current total of 2,210, which is the highest number on record.

In the same 18-month period, the number of additional clinical services staff, including Health Care Assistants, increased by an extra 170 staff up to 1,246.

The trust’s total intake of student nurses will be 120 this year, which matches last year’s total.

In preparation for starting ward duties, the new student nurses took part in a welcome event at Burnley General Hospital last week, to ensure each new student nurse understood the trust’s commitment to safe, personal and effective care for every patient.

For the next three years, the 69 new adult nurses and 11 children’s nurses will split their time 50-50 between working on ward duties and studying for their nursing degree at UCLan.