Nurse recruitment drive boosted

A nurse recruitment drive by the Northern Devon Healthcare NHS Trust continues to bear fruit.

The Trust is looking to enhance its nursing teams at North Devon District Hospital and its community hospitals.

It is also aiming to boost its community nursing teams which care for patients in their own homes.

A total of 40 people attended the Trust’s latest recruitment open day at Tiverton and District Hospital on Monday 23 March, 15 of whom were offered jobs following an interview on the day.

It follows a similarly successful open day at NDDH the previous Monday, when 54 people attended and 23 were offered jobs.

On the back of that event, further interviews are due to take place at NDDH on Monday 30 March.

In February, 29 registered nurses and 153 people in total attended open days at Axminster and Seaton community hospitals.

Darryn Allcorn, director of workforce and development, said: “These open days have proved to be highly successful and we’ve been very pleased with both the number and calibre of candidates who have shown an interest in working for our Trust.

“Our Trust is almost unique in its make-up as we provide a mixture of acute, community and specialist services across 1,300 square miles, so we can offer a wide range of exciting opportunities for nurses and other staff in a number of locations.

“We are still keen to hear from experienced nurses seeking a new challenge, those looking to return to practice and students due to qualify from university, who can take advantage of our innovative rotational posts working across acute and community settings.”

The Trust is holding a further open day for nurses on Saturday 18 April (10am to 3pm), at Sidmouth Hospital rather than Exmouth as first planned.

As with previous events, visitors will be able to meet clinical, recruitment and workforce development staff and have a tour of the hospital.

For more information, call Anna Wright on 01392 356023 or e-mail ndht.recruitment@nhs.net.