Bid to retain Wigan's nursing staff

Nurses are now expected to revalidate their professional credentials every three years, as part of professional development work introduced by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) in 2016.

Medical bosses at Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust have been told that 67 registered nurses are eligible to retire over the next 12 months.

The trust’s workforce committee has heard that the figure presented a “risk” to frontline staffing, which was being urgently addressed by their own professional practice team.

One-on-one support is among the measures which has been introduced as part of a “retention strategy”, after the workforce committee was also told that some older nurses had signalled their reluctance to go through the revalidation process.

A WWL spokesman said: “Nurse staffing shortages are now one of the biggest risks to the NHS. Recruitment and retention of registered nurses has now become the highest priority for every health organisation.

“WWL is feeling the same effects as other NHS organisations. We currently have 67 registered nurses eligible to retire this year and who are also due to revalidate.

“Revalidation enables our nurses and midwives to demonstrate that they are living by (the NMC code’s) standards of practice and behaviour and ultimately promote good practice across the trust.

“To support these nurses to maintain registration with the NMC, the professional practice team has arranged a number of drop-in sessions to explain the requirements in more detail.

“At WWL retaining our experienced and skilled nursing staff is crucial in ensuring our patients receive the best possible care and that our future generations of nurses are well supported.”