Wolverhampton hospital chief in promise to nurses
'If they're good enough I can assure them we'll have jobs for them'. That was the message to local nurses today from Wolverhampton's New Cross Hospital.
The hospital is taking on 170 staff from overseas in the next year.
New Cross has been criticised for the staffing move, which will see £3.6million spent in a bold recruitment drive on new nurses.
But today its chief executive pledged that no local nurse – including those training at the University of Wolverhampton – would be turned away from the hospital if they were up to standard.
David Loughton said he wanted to make assurances to local people there would always be jobs for them at the Wednesfield site.
The extra 170 nurses are being hired on top of the hospital's usual staff recruitment.
"If you complete your training and you're up to standard, there's a job for you," Mr Loughton, chief executive of the Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust, said.
"I've given an undertaking that some of the student nurses at the University of Wolverhampton will be given assurances we've got jobs for them.
"I can't given an open-ended assurance that there's a job for every student nurses, because they've got to make the grade. But if they do make the grade then there'll be a job – and that's for the foreseeable future."
Around 15 per cent of the New Cross' nurses leave each year, mostly due to retirement or taking jobs at other hospitals.
Mr Loughton said he would always prefer to take on local people.
"The 170 from abroad is a one-off hike," he added.
