FLYING in the face of the national nursing crisis, the trust which runs Furness General Hospital in Barrow has welcomed dozens of new frontline staff.

But hospital bosses have also warned that they must remain proactive in their bid to fight the challenges posed by the national nursing shortage.

A group of 75 new starters at the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust, including 44 newly-qualified nurses and five newly-qualified midwives, came together at an induction event held at FGH. Other new starters in attendance included a junior doctor, eight clinical healthcare apprentices, clinical support workers, and new colleagues for teams in pharmacy, catering, domestic services, sterile services and finance.

The event was one of the largest ever of its kind held by the trust.

Executive chief nurse Sue Smith said: “We have been working hard to recruit to many areas of the trust and to see so many new faces in the room today is outstanding. There was a real buzz in the room and you could tell everyone was eager to get started.

“Caring for patients and their families during what is often a hard time in their lives can be demanding, but it is an extremely fulfilling and rewarding career. I can tell the staff we had starting with us this week will fit into our hard working and caring teams perfectly.”

The trust has been working to recruit in a number of ways. To date, it has boosted staff levels by arranging recruitment fairs, launching a new online recruitment portal and holding interviews in international locations including Greece, India and Cyprus.

Deputy chief nurse Joann Morse was part of the interview panel during a recent recruitment trip to the Philippines. She said: “We can, and do, recruit locally but there is a national shortage of nurses so we need to remain proactive in our approach. It is vitally important that we get our staffing levels right, so while we’re happy to welcome our new starters this week, we will be continuing to recruit more nurses, locally, nationally and internationally.”