Wigan's hospitals see increase in doctor and nursing posts

Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Teaching Hospitals Foundation Trust (WWL) employed 505 doctors and 1,390 nurses and health visitors at the end of September, according to the latest NHS workforce statistics.

That was a 1.6 per cent rise in the number of doctors compared to the same time last year and a 3.6 per cent increase in nurses and health visitors.

The trust had 5,488 staff in total, up six per cent year on year, and 2,632 professionally qualified clinic staff, up 4.4 per cent. This includes midwives, paramedics, scientific, therapeutic and technical staff, and support workers.

James Baker, the trust’s deputy director of HR, said: “WWL is committed to being a great place to work and for our residents to receive treatment. As part of our workforce plan, we continue to grow and invest in our medical and nursing workforce, which helps us to improve the services we can provide, and most importantly, maintain high quality and safe care for our patients.

“This recruitment is through a number of routes including; internal professional development, appointment of newly qualified staff from education, local recruitment campaigns and overseas recruitment.

“Meanwhile, we continue to develop local retention and development schemes to ensure WWL remains a prominent employer of choice and creates a healthy workplace that provides the best environment for all staff to excel and provide the best patient services possible.”

The new data reflects increases in the number of medical staff both across the North West and nationwide.

The number of nurses in the NHS in the North West increased by 4.1 per cent to 46,034, and the number of doctors rose by 5.1 per cent to 16,590.

The number of new nursing applicants to English providers between January 15 and June 30 was 68 per cent higher than the same period last year. Recent figures show the highest ever number of GPs entering training with 3,793 posts accepted, exceeding the mandated target of 3,250.

The NHS recently announced £15m to strengthen mental health support for nurses, paramedics, therapists, pharmacists and support staff. They will get rapid access to expanded mental health services being rolled out across the country as part of efforts to deal with the second wave of coronavirus.

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