A MISSION to recruit more doctors is heading out to India this month from the local health trust.
Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust (WAHT) currently has 160 vacancies for doctors across its three hospital sites in Redditch, Worcester and Kidderminster.
Even though an additional 70 are due to be appointed in the next three months that still leaves a massive shortfall in staff.
And health chiefs recognise the ongoing issue of Brexit could have a major impact on the Trust’s recruitment strategy depending on what curbs, if any, are imposed on immigration.
Trust chairman Karagh Merrick told a board meeting: “There is more than a degree of uncertainty around Brexit and we have looked at a number of scenarios and will progress those to the point it affects us, but at the moment we simply do not know.”
A similar overseas drive is being considered to recruit more nurses.
The Trust has 158 nursing vacancies, of which 60 are ward based.
Recent figures show that nationwide more nurses are now leaving the profession than joining.
Staffing levels are a key issue for the Trust, which is having to rely on expensive agency or bank workers to properly run its services while being expected to save £20.9million as part of a ‘cost improvement programme’.
At the moment it is overspending by £600,000 on agency or bank staff to fill holes in its staffing rotas. By recruiting more permanent staff this would help cut costs, improve efficiency and deliver better services.
Members of the Trust board acknowledged that the key summer months, when more staff will be on holiday, will be a challenging time in the battle to keep costs down.
WAHT recently had its Care Quality Commission rating of ‘Inadequate’ confirmed by inspectors who said in some respects it had actually got worse rather than better.
It remains in ‘special measures’.
