NHS staffing: Over 300 nurses sign up at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals ahead of winter pressures

Officials at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals say 150 newly registered nurses and 12 new midwives have joined or will be joining the Trust by the end of November.

And this is in addition to 159 nurses who have joined the trust since April this year.

The announcement comes after The Star revealed how 21 mums last week had to be diverted out of Sheffield to have their babies at hospitals including Rotherham, Barnsley and Chesterfield due to staff shortages at The Jessop Wing maternity hospital.

The trust said this was due to a combination of high levels of staff sickness and an unusually high number of complications in births, but insisted it had ensured all women received the care they needed to deliver their babies safely.

The new nurses and midwives will be put into posts across the trust and will also help to manage the added pressures of the busy winter period, according to the trust.

Northern General, Royal Hallamshire, Weston Park, Jessop Wing and Charles Clifford Dental

The trust runs the Northern General, the Royal Hallamshire, Weston Park, the Jessop Wing and the Charles Clifford Dental Hospital.

STH’s chief nurse Prof Chris Morley said: “We are delighted to welcome our new nursing and midwifery colleagues who will be a fantastic addition to our existing teams caring for patients in our hospitals and community services.

“We are very fortunate to have one of the best retention rates for staff in the NHS and this means we have an experienced nursing and midwifery team to support these new nurses and midwives as they start the next stage in their career.

“Helping them to flourish and become the best nurse or midwife they can is key if they are to deliver the best care for our patients. As a large NHS Trust with many different services across our hospitals and community services, we have fantastic opportunities for nurses and midwives to join us and experience a breadth of roles as well as potential to further develop their career in a number of ways.”

Among the new nurses to have arrived the trust in the last few weeks is Shraddha Kapdekar.

She said: “I joined the Trust in September this year and have been so pleased with my experience working here so far.

“I applied to Sheffield Teaching Hospitals as I felt it would be the best opportunity for me to develop my skills within a large organisation. Everyone has been so welcoming and the support and training I have received since I started has been marvellous. I’m really happy to have the opportunity to help patients who need my care.”

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