EMPLOYEES at Grimsby's hospital are crying out for more staff as a way to help improve services for patients.
It comes in the wake of a £450,000 investment programme started by Northern Lincolnshire and Goole Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (NLAG) – which was this week put into special measures following the Keogh Review – to recruit more nurses and healthcare assistants.
One staff member who works on ward B1 at the Diana, Princess Of Wales Hospital (DPOW) – the gynaecology and breast ward – expressed her concerns following the damming report released at the beginning of the week.
Taking her views to www.grimsbytelegraph.co.uk under the name tina170564, she said: "Nursing staff do more writing up now than they ever have done.
"They are so stacked out and bogged down with paperwork they do not have the time to wash, dress, counsel and care for patients.
"Staff at DPOW are at breaking point.
"Nurses and carers cutting short their breaks or having none at all, staying late, way after their shift is finished – without being paid.
"The majority of the doctors, nurses and carers at DPOW work their butts off and they are all genuinely hurt by the media attention it has attracted.
"A message to the government: HELP US! WE NEED MORE STAFF!
"I work on B1 ladies.
"We are a great team who really do our absolute best for every patient that comes through the door."
A total of 13.76 whole time equivalent staff nurses and 14.18 healthcare assistants will be recruited as part of the investment.
Dr Karen Dunderdale, chief nurse at NLAG, said: "People being admitted to hospital are more acutely ill and this requires more intensive nursing support.
"We have started the recruitment process and are already putting people into posts.
"I want to ensure we have the right staff in place to provide the best quality care possible for our patients.
"In the last 18 months we have additionally recruited 140 highly skilled nurses."
Touching on the need for doctors, Neil Pease, director of organisational and workforce development at NLAG, said: "There is a national shortage of doctors in some specialities; this is not something that is unique to our area.
"We are taking steps to address this, including advertising both nationally and internationally.
"Our main priority is to always ensure we continue to provide safe and quality services for our patients."
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