ALMOST £1m extra funding is set to be spent on Emergency Department nurses at sites including Furness General Hospital in Barrow.

The University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation is investing £950,000 to increase staffing levels at FGH and its Royal Lancaster Infirmary site.

That is in addition to an extra £7m already spent employing extra staff across the trust since April 2014, and will pay for 30 more ED nurses including 19 at FGH.

Trust deputy chief nurse, Joann Morse, said: “This is great news for the trust, especially our teams in the Emergency Department, and most importantly our patients. 

“Having more specialist Emergency Department nurses will enable us to have the right staff, with the right skills in the right place at the right time, providing a safe, effective and quality service to all patients who attend our ED departments in Barrow and Lancaster.

“Having the appropriate staffing levels will also enable us to manage patient complexity and demand more effectively.”