HEALTH bosses in Blackburn will be able to employ more nurses to allow others to train as casualty supernurses, thanks to funding from the Government.

The Blackburn, Hyndburn and Ribble Valley NHS trust, which runs A & E at Blackburn Royal Infirmary, has been given £17,942 to fund nurse practitioners in the casualty department.

But the trust was one step ahead of the Government's plans and had already started training 10 nurses to become nurse practitioners in May, so they can deal with more cases without needing a doctor.

They will now be using the money to fund more nurses, so that the nurses on training can be released for more intensive training.

Anne Asher, trust services manager for acute services, said: "We are training the 10 nurses in a scheme with Airdale Hospital Trust in Yorkshire and Huddersfield University, and will when they have finished be able to provide nurse practitioners around the clock.

"Although we weren't certain the funding for this would come through, the trust went ahead and funded the scheme anyway. Now the money has come through, we can use it to pay for more nurses so the nurses on training will be able to go on a more intensive course and could be finished sooner than next June."

Managers are now waiting to hear details of the Government's latest scheme, a clinical assessment system, designed to cut waiting times in A & E. As a three star trust, Blackburn will be given the opportunity to be one of 25 trusts nationally to pilot the scheme.