There are 150 nurse vacancies at the Isle of Wight NHS Trust, with 80 of those on the St Mary’s Hospital site, health bosses revealed last night (Monday).
To plug gaps, 40 nurses have been hired from the Philippines to help reduce the amount the trust spends on agency staff.
Policy and Scrutiny committee
Health bosses met with Isle of Wight councillors at the policy and scrutiny committee for adult social care and health, to discuss the ongoing concerns at the trust.
A warning notice was issued three-weeks ago after health inspectors found a shortage of nurses, lack of bed space and up to 15-hour waiting times in the emergency department.
Agency staff contributed to deficit problem
Chief executive, Maggie Oldham, said the shortage of nurses had been filled using agency staff, contributing to the increased deficit of £13 million.
Due to multi-million pound debt increase, NHS Improvement placed the trust in financial special measures at the beginning of March.
Ms Oldham said:
“We have a very good fill rate with our bank and agency staff — 98 per cent of our shifts are covered.
“It is the biggest cause of our financial deficit.”
National shortage
Nationally, there are more than 33,000 registered nurse vacancies.
Ms Oldham said the trust was facing competition with recruitment from Southampton and Portsmouth.
She said:
“If you are agency staff, why would you sign on to a shift on the Isle of Wight, when you’d have to get a ferry across, rather than Portsmouth or Southampton?”
The 40 new Filipino nurses will be based at the St Mary’s site.
Ms Oldham said,
“Due to their training, it’s not easy to transfer them out into community services.”
£10 – 15 million deficit
According to health bosses, the Isle of Wight NHS Trust faces a financial deficit of £10 – 15 million, compared to mainland trusts, due to being an island.
Ms Oldham said the report also praised how patient flow had improved since new processes had been implemented.
She said:
“We have invested £1.5 million in our emergency department.”
The trust has until 29th April to show improvements have been made in order to lift the warning notice.
This article is from the BBC’s LDRS (Local Democracy Reporter Service) scheme, which OnTheWight is taking part in. Some alterations and additions may be been made by OnTheWight. Ed
Image: Harsha K R under CC BY 2.0
