Polish and Bulgarian nurses offered to Shropshire hospitals
A nursing recruitment firm has offered to ease Shropshire’s staffing crisis by bringing in workers from Poland and Bulgaria.
London-based Hunter Miller has written to Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (Sath), saying it can help.
The company says it has run successful projects for North East Ambulance Service and East Midlands Ambulance Service to hire paramedics from Poland.
Sath faces having to close its A&E department overnight at Telford’s Princess Royal Hospital because of shortages.
Writing to trust boss Simon Wright, the firm’s Nick Miller said: “I represent three EU nursing universities, two in Poland and one in Bulgaria, that are keen to connect with UK NHS trusts in order to provide career opportunities beyond their home countries.
"By linking to individual trusts nurses will have a good idea about where they are going to work early in their training.
“With a preordained focus as opposed to jumping into a blind NHS environment they will be more likely to remain in their jobs, particularly if they can gain some work experience during their training period.”
The move would not offer an instant fix as the nurses would be in training.
But Mr Miller claims it could eventually provide ready-made skills.
He added: “There are 70 nursing colleges in Poland alone and it is likely that many more of them would more than welcome the opportunity to train nurses with the ambition to work for the NHS.
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"This could potentially solve your nursing recruitment problem for the indefinite future particularly if other already experienced nurses within college alumni could see a clear process for joining an NHS trust.”
He said the firm may also be able to help with the recruitment of doctors from overseas, although this would take more time.
A trust spokesman said: “We are in contact with a number of agencies both in this country and overseas to look at improving our workforce through both qualified staff and those studying.
"We will consider all opportunities to bring the right people into the trust.”
The planned night-time closure of A&E at PRH is due to come into force on December 5, from 10pm to 8am, unless additional staff can be found.
The trust says it could remain open at night in the ‘short-term’ if it receives an ‘absolute minimum’ of seven middle grade doctors, as well as at least 15 more registered A&E nurses.
Health bosses say any closure would be reviewed and the situation could be reversed when the right levels of staffing are achieved.
Sath also says it is working to try and avoid any closure, but patient safety is the priority.
