Nurse vacancy rates at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital King’s Lynn are at an all time low, following a successful recruitment campaign to attract people to come and live and work in West Norfolk.
At the end of August, there were 198 unfilled full-time nursing positions at the QEH. This had fallen to 170 by the end of September.
And since then, we have filled a further 119 of these posts, leaving just 51 positions still to be filled – equating to a record low vacancy rate for the hospital of just 5.2%.
The Trust is working closely with local universities, including the University of East Anglia, Anglia Ruskin University, the University of Suffolk and Open University to attract student nurses to the hospital by offering apprenticeships.
The hospital has also had international recruitment success, with 140 nurses arriving at the QEH this year from the Philippines and India (25 in November alone).
And in October, the Trust launched a high profile recruitment campaign to attract people to come and live and work in West Norfolk, promoting the QEH and local area as a place where you can enjoy the ‘best of work, and best of life.’
QEH Chief Nurse, Libby McManus, said: “It is fantastic news that our vacancy rate for qualified nurses has reached an all time low. It has been a real team effort to achieve this result. We look forward to working with our new recruits and welcoming them to the QEH and local area and are keen to see them develop and grow with us in King’s Lynn.
“There are many factors behind our recruitment success, including our focus on recruiting internationally. We also have strong partnership working with local universities and colleges to attract both student nurses and apprentices.
“Our recruitment success will go a long way to improving staff morale and in turn will lead to further improvements to the care we provide to the patients and families we serve.
“As well as reducing our vacancy rate, we are also working hard on retaining our existing nursing staff within the QE. We have created easier ways for people to transfer between similar roles, encouraging them to stay in King’s Lynn and develop with us at team QEH.”
If you’re interested in joining TeamQEH, visit our website at: https://teamqeh.com/
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