Health staff levels cause concern (From Western Telegraph)

Health staff levels cause concern

Health chiefs are struggling to staff Withybush Hospital, in a recruitment crisis which has left the radiology and cancer care departments under-manned.

Pembrokeshires director of medical services, Dr Peter Jackson, admits there are major recruitment and retention issues at the hospital. But the National Assembly is vowing to improve staffing levels.

It is funding a big increase in the Welsh NHS workforce. By 2010 it is planning to have 700 more hospital consultants and GPs, 6,000 nurses and 2,000 other healthcare professionals.

Over the next few months, the Assembly will set the Pembrokeshire and Derwen NHS Trust and the Local Health Board targets to improve staffing levels. Tomorrow (Thursday) the Trusts Board will confirm the appointment of a new consultant paediatrician and consultant rheumatologist.

Dr Vischwa Narayan has been appointed to succeed Dr Arabinda Palit who retired as consultant paediatrician for Pembrokeshire last month. Dr Narayan will take up his post this month.

The Trust has appointed Dr Amanda Coulson as the new consultant rheumatologist. She will start her new job in September.

The Trust is still struggling to fill a vacant consultant radiologists post. After extensive advertising it finally recruited Dr Karen Bradshaw to fill one of the two vacancies.

Dr Peter Jackson said some of the staffing problems had been alleviated by overseas recruitment. We have recruited a total of 37 overseas nurses in addition to a number of local recruits, he said.

There are still several medical staff vacancies in the areas of radiology and cancer care and we continue to explore all recruitment options including international initiatives.

Welsh Health Minister Jane Hutt has referred to staff as the backbone of the NHS. We cannot improve the service without them, she said.