More than 40 new nurses join Shropshire’s two acute hospitals

The 42 nurses will work across scheduled and unscheduled care at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital (RSH) and the Princess Royal Hospital (PRH) in Telford.

The appointments will boost the workforce at The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH) and reduce the reliance on agency nurses and temporary staff.

An inaugural ‘Golden Invitation’ event was held at PRH to welcome the new nurses to the Trust this week – and included goody bags, refreshments and the opportunity to meet SaTH’s senior nursing team.

Ruth Smith, a Matron at SaTH, sees the events as being part the Trust’s future and she plans to run more of them, supported by colleagues in the Workforce team.

Deirdre Fowler, Director of Nursing, Midwifery and Quality, said: “We are absolutely delighted to welcome our new nurses to SaTH. Their recruitment strengthens our nursing team and means we can continue our efforts to cut back on our use of temporary and agency staff. It is also advantageous to our patients in terms of continuity of care.

“Nursing is such a special and rewarding job, and our nurses put their all into their care of our patients – and we want them to know that we value that. They are our workforce of the future, and we want them to feel part of our family, and that they belong to something.

“The care of our patients is at the heart of everything we do, and these latest recruitments are part of our ongoing commitment to find caring and compassionate people who want to be part of our journey to provide the safest and kindest care possible.”

After placements in Shrewsbury and Telford, former student nurse Amanda Checketts will join SaTH as a Staff Nurse on Monday 11 September.

Amanda said: “I am delighted to be joining the nursing team at SaTH. Nursing is something that I always wanted to do.

“I did a number of placements at the RSH and the PRH, and when you would walk down any corridor everyone would smile, pass the time of day and make the effort. It’s that atmosphere that I wanted to be part of.”

Hannah Yates, SaTH Recruitment Adviser, organised the welcome event for the new recruits, and said it was something they were planning to repeat on a regular basis.

Hannah said: “It is about creating the right first impression, and we want to make our nurses feel valued and special.

“Our first event was for people who have been offered jobs, whether they are newly qualified or already qualified, but new to the Trust. We wanted to bring them all together to find out about our Trust and to make them feel that they belong to the SaTH family. They were able to speak to the Director and Deputy Director of Nursing, Midwifery and Quality, which is an opportunity they may not normally have had – and they were also able to meet others who are on that same journey.”

SaTH is also inviting all adult nurses who are newly qualified, qualified, bank staff and those due to qualify in March and September 2018, to a special recruitment event on Thursday 14 September at 6pm in the Education Centre at PRH. Anyone interested in attending is asked to submit an online application or contact Hannah Yates on 01743 261000 ext 1732, or email Hannah.Yates@sath.nhs.uk