The Countess of Chester Hospital is struggling because of an NHS -wide crisis that means more nurses are leaving the profession than are being recruited.
There are currently 60 nurse vacancies at the Countess against the background of a worsening picture.
“If we could recruit 60 nurses today we would,” says hospital chief executive Tony Chambers . “At the moment we have got the highest number of nurse vacancies that we’ve ever had. Nationally more people are leaving nursing than are being trained.”
The BBC says more than 33,000 walked away last year, piling pressure on understaffed hospitals and community services.
Some are leaving for the private sector. Others are moving abroad or leaving nursing altogether with some citing the pressures of the job.
Brexit may also be having an impact as EU nurses go back to their home countries.
Last week critics argued the Countess ought to be spending the £500,000 per year allocated to a controversial new teletracking system on hiring more nurses.
Mr Chambers doesn’t disagree more staff are needed but given this isn’t feasible he argues teletracking means the Countess is better placed to ride the storm because the system makes the best use of scarce resources.
It monitors patient flow as well as bed and staff availability via electronic chips in ID wristbands with the data displayed anonymously on giant computer screens in a coordination centre. Slashing the number of hours a bed lays empty should increase bed capacity and reduce costs per patient just by working smarter.
“When you have got a scenario where you’ve got more patients and staff problems and the resources are tight, the organisations that are going to be the best are the ones who embrace technology,” said Mr Chambers, who has been to the States to see how the technology could be used to coordinate care more efficiently across several hospitals.
Mr Chambers said the hospital needed to recruit 200 nurses a year ‘just to stand still’ but more efficient management of the hospital under teletracking meant perhaps only 180 nurses would be required which would still make a contribution towards solving staffing and financial challenges.
There is a close relationship between the Countess and the University of Chester , which runs nursing and midwifery courses, training about 70 new nurses each year. And the hospital chief executive would love to recruit every single of them as he struggles to fill the nursing vacancies.
Mr Chambers added: “We have a good relationship with the university. We are trying to get to the point where we employ the nurses before they finish their degrees so they have a job on graduation. In some cases the Vice Chancellor and myself are working on how we can use it as part of the recruitment for Chester University – if you come to Chester we will guarantee you a job.”
