Almost 350 nursing posts across Cumbria are currently unfilled, latest figures reveal.

It means, on average, one in 10 posts are vacant.

Recruitment difficulties have long been an issue in the county, making it difficult to staff hospitals and health services in all sectors - from inpatient wards to mental health.

But efforts are underway to address it, ranging from overseas appointments to innovative recruitment campaigns.

One of the latest ideas is to seek out former nurses whose registration has lapsed - of which it is believed there are many across the county - and encourage them to return to practice.

One Cumbrian community group, in a bid to help staff its local hospital, is even offering a £500 bursary to those who sign up, regardless of whereabouts they end up working.

North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs the Cumberland Infirmary in Carlisle and and West Cumberland Hospital in Whitehaven, currently has the highest proportion of vacancies - with 12.5 per cent of its total nursing posts currently unfilled.

To put that into context, the hospitals need the equivalent of 115 more full time nursing staff. The trust stressed that it recently decided to up its optimum staffing levels on wards, increasing vacancy rates.

The University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Furness General in Barrow and the Westmorland General at Kendal, currently has 10 per cent of its total nursing posts sitting vacant - the equivalent of 149 full time staff.

The Cumbria Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, which runs community and mental health services, has a seven per cent vacancy across all of its services, equating to 83 full time staff needed.

Of these, 38 vacancies are in the community, 27 in mental health, nine in children/family services and nine specialist posts.

Craig Melrose, associate medical director for community services across Cumbria, said recruitment is a top priority.
Craig Melrose

"Increasing staffing in our hospitals is absolutely vital. That's the backbone of our services. We need the right number of nurses, with the right skills. It's not just us, it's a Cumbria-wide problem," he said.

"We are actively trying to recruit clinicians of all kinds into the county. Nationally there is a shortage of nurses too.

"I think it's because there is more need for nurses than ever before - and training numbers haven't quite kept up with demand. We are actively trying to recruit clinicians of all kinds into the county."

Training new nurses is not a short term solution as it takes years to complete the required degree. However it is hoped that attracting former nurses back to the profession can help to plug that gap.

"Those wanting to return to nursing can do six months of supervised practice then come back in to a nursing role. We have had people who have done that successfully," added Dr Melrose.


David Wilkinson David Wilkinson, director of workforce and organisational development at the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust, said that over the last few years, they have been working hard to increase staff numbers across the trust, including nurses.

"This recruitment drive includes continuing to recruit from within the UK and overseas," he explained, stressing that despite national trends, they have retained staff from the European Union.

“We’ve also seen continued improvements in senior medical staff recruitment over the past 12 months, with an additional 22 consultants and 13 speciality doctors recruited.

“The focus, initially, for registered nurses has been on domestic recruitment campaigns, which included social media. This has been successful and we were delighted to welcome our largest cohort of pre-registration nurses in September this year, with 45 joining the trust.

"A further nine pre-registration nurses and 18 registered nurses were welcomed to the trust in October and November.

He added: “Our international nurse recruitment runs in parallel with the domestic recruitment campaigns, and there are 14 registered nurses expected to start before the end of January 2018.

"In addition, there are currently 221 international registered nurse recruits being supported through the recruitment process."

A £2m investment plan for Cumbria's community hospitals was unveiled last week as bosses work to reconfigure beds.

It will see extensions built to the hospitals in Brampton and Keswick and new beds added in Workington and Cockermouth.

Those in Maryport, Wigton and Alston will still lose beds, largely due to long term recruitment problems - which bosses say has made staffing smaller units on lots of sites increasingly difficult.

At one point Brampton hospital was among those under threat, but local campaigners now feel its future is secure.

However there is still one sticking point - nurses.

John Holland, of the Brampton League of Friends, said they are now
John Holland working with the Cumbria Partnership and University of Cumbria to help tackle this by encouraging former nurses back to the wards.

"We are looking at it now and thinking it's all very well improving the hospitals, but we still need to recruit staff," he said.

"We've been working with the university to see how we can get lapsed nurses back into practice. There's a return to nursing course starting in January and it takes about six months to complete."

He said the Brampton Friends group has a fairly healthy bank account, and they want to use that money to benefit the hospital.

They are therefore offering a £500 bursary to all those who sign up to the course, replacing those withdrawn by Government.

As these trainees also need mentors, who must undergo additional training to allow them to assess their work, they are extending the bursaries to existing staff willing to take on this responsibility.

Those who benefit from the bursaries are not tied to work in Brampton, nor are they tied to community hospitals or even Cumbria.

However the hope is that those who train here will want to stay in the county and help tackle the wider nursing shortage.

This will make it easier to staff cottage hospitals long term, and ideally ensure Brampton itself is never short of nurses.

"The worst case scenario is that someone does the course and then goes somewhere else, but we are not that small-minded to dwell on that. We are concerned about the community hospitals and we hope people will realise what great places they are to work in," said Mr Holland.

"We are trying to be positive rather than negative."

He said all the statistics suggest there are many former nurses in the county who would be eligible for the course.

Kim Hanson, the University of Cumbria's Return to Practice programme lead, said many people left the profession to have a family or for other reasons, and might not realise how simple it is to return.

“People who have left the nursing profession may feel they don’t have anything to offer but there is nothing further from the truth. Apart from previous professional experience, they’ve got ample amounts of life experience which is vital to this sort of career," she said.

"The course is designed to be really flexible.

"They’ll spend five days at university and the rest of the time working with mentors in practice, all worked around the schedule of the individual student.

"We really will welcome them back with open arms.”


Chris Torn One of those who has just completed the Return to Practice is Cumbrian mental health nurse Chris Torn, from Penrith.

Now 59, he had worked in the NHS for 36 years when he decided to retire at 55 and pursue other things.

Although he kept busy, he found himself missing clinical work and after a couple of years enrolled on the course.

"When I retired I wanted a little bit of time out to consider what I wanted to do next. I realised I was too young not to work," he said.

He worked in the patient transport service for a while, but found himself working less social hours than he did prior to retirement.

"I used to be a community mental health nurse and enjoyed it. I didn't want to go back into management, but decided it would be nice to go back to clinical work again," explained Mr Torn.

However his registration had lapsed so he couldn't go straight back into it, prompting him to sign up for the course.

Having now completed all of his academic studies and placements, he is just waiting for his final mark and his registration to be renewed ready to start a new community mental health post in Allerdale.

The next Return to Practice course starts in January, and there is still time to apply before Christmas. Another cohort starts in June, and all new students will be eligible for the one-off bursary.

Applications are accepted via the university website - www.cumbria.ac.uk - or contact Mrs Hanson at kim.hanson@cumbria.ac.uk


NHS trusts in Cumbria have teamed up to launch a bold new recruitment campaign it is hoped will attract health staff to the area.

North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust and the Cumbria Partnership NHS Foundation Trust asked local people to send in photos showing why they love living and working in the county.

They received over 100 photographs, which will now be used to promote the area to doctors, nurses and other health professionals.

Stephen Eames, chief executive for both trusts, said: “The response from the public has been fantastic.

"We know that our staff and local communities are passionate about our NHS and the place they call home, and that’s really come across.

"The range of photos we have received will help us show just how much we have to offer.”

As well as showing off Cumbria's wider appeal, the campaign will also focus on the specialist roles now available in the county to help boost its appeal to new recruits.

Amanda Dunkley, attraction lead at the North Cumbria trust, said: “Our new campaign looks different to anything we’ve done before and will help us stand out to job seekers.

"It describes the kind of people we’re looking for in a bold and fun way.

"We’re looking for innovators, experts, adventures, thrill seekers, explorers, team players - the list goes on. We want to show that we have something for everyone.

“We’ve had to think outside of the box to address our recruitment challenges and that has really paid off."