Nearly 80 students have joined the NHS' fight against coronavirus in north Cumbria.

This week, 78 nursing and allied health professional students are being inducted into the North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust, before taking up placement roles in hospital or community settings across the north of the county.

This is part of a national strategy to give second and third year students the option to join the NHS' frontline efforts in responding to Covid-19, while continuing to learn.

Georgia Wright is the deputy chief nurse at the north Cumbria trust.

She said: “We’re hugely grateful to the students for choosing to come here and for their commitment to helping during these unprecedented times.

“It’s a period of massive change in the NHS.

"We’re continuing to respond to the challenges of the Coronavirus pandemic, and we’re also working to get services back in place and ensure they can operate safely going forward.

"The students will be vital to this, ensuring the right staffing is in place as the services start to see more patients.”

Peter Skilton is one of the third year physiotherapy students who has this week joined the trust.

He said: “It’s nice to be joining the trust and finding out where I’ll be helping out. I’m looking forward to the challenge and am keen to put my skills into practice.”

Another physiotherapy student joining this week, Caitlin Rose, originally from Northern Ireland, has been studying at the University of Cumbria.

“I think it’s a great opportunity for us to get experience and I’m looking forward to helping out,” she said.

Gill Long, head of nursing, clinical education and practice development at the trust, said: “We recognise that these are unprecedented times, and hope that by staying connected to the students and ensuring they are able to raise any concerns and anxieties they have, we can develop learning that meets their needs and enables them to provide the best possible hospital experience for our patients.

“We want to ensure that the students are given a positive experience during the placement, and hope that by doing this they will consider staying with us when they complete their placements and register as nurses and allied health professionals.”

The induction event has been taking place at the Sands Centre in Carlisle, and special social distancing measures have been implemented throughout the process, to ensure the students stay at least two metres away from each other.

The local community has also been keen to welcome the students to their placements, and as a token of appreciation Richard Ferris, from Leave a Light On, has coordinated lunch and refreshments for the students throughout the process.

It’s estimated that this approach could increase the NHS workforce in Cumbria and North Lancashire by an additional 352 student nurses.