More than 140 nurses are due to start at Hull Royal Infirmary and Castle Hill Hospital this month as part of a plan to address the national shortage of nurses.

Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust has recruited 142 newly qualified nurses from the University of Hull and universities further afield as part of its hugely successful Remarkable People campaign.

Many of the new nurses were offered posts during their training, on condition of passing their final exams, in a radical approach by the trust to recruit as much of the locally-grown health care talent as possible.

Chief Nurse Beverley Geary

Chief Nurse Beverley Geary said: “Not only are we able to offer students jobs upon qualification, we can also support them throughout their training and time at university so they are more likely to pass their exams with flying colours.

“That means that when they arrive at the hospital, they are already part of the ‘HUTH family’ and we will continue to mentor them throughout the early stages of their careers to ensure they can achieve their full potential.”

The trust, in line with other hospitals around the country, has experienced a shortfall in nurses in recent years and the new recruits will fill the 143 vacancies for nurses.

In addition to the newly qualified staff, the trust has also recruited 60 nurses from the Philippines in the last two years with just two leaving thanks to a concerted effort to welcome the new staff to the trust and help them settle in the city as well as in their jobs.

A further 10 nurses will be arriving from the Philippines later this month and will work in the hospital’s theatres and endoscopy department to ease the pressure in particular areas affected by staff shortages.

The trust has also launched its “Once A Nurse…Always a Nurse” advertising campaign aimed at international staff now working at Hull Royal and Castle Hill although not in nursing roles. So far, seven members of staff have been supported to obtain the qualifications they require to attain registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Council.

Ms Geary said: “We have to come up with innovative ways of bringing nurses into or back into nursing and we’ve been really successful in what we’ve done so far.

“Creative thinking is required to tackle the nursing shortfalls experience by hospitals all over the country. We have to do all we can to showcase the fantastic career opportunities we have here for people are lucky enough to live and work in the wonderful, vibrant city of Hull.”