PROGRESS is being made to tackle long-standing recruitment problems in North Cumbria's NHS services.
North Cumbria Integrated Care (NCIC) has recruited 17 newly qualified nurses and 30 healthcare support workers recently as well as launching a consultant recruitment drive, which has raised the trust's fill rate from 61 per cent to 68 per cent.
Recruitment efforts are keeping NCIC's nursing vacancy rate low at about five per cent.
The rate is set to fall further due to the recruitment of the 17 newly qualified nurses.
A spokesperson for NCIC said that it is "making good progress in recruiting to both medical and nursing vacancies," despite the national concern of medical recruitment which is "amplified" in North Cumbria.
The trust spokesperson said: "We have been clear that a key part of our improvement plan is to recruit and appoint more consultants on permanent contracts to work across both of our hospitals.
"We have put a new strategy in place to attract new consultants which includes continuous professional development and building partnerships with the Pears Cumbria School of Medicine."
"This partnership is also helping us to grow our research and innovation activities including the recent introduction of robotic assisted surgeries to Cumbria.
"This work is already proving to be successful with our permanent consultant workforce rising significantly."
Josh MacAlister, Member of Parliament for Whitehaven and Workington, welcomed the progress.
He acknowledged that "one of the big challenges we've faced in north and west Cumbria is our ability to recruit medical staff."
"I'm really pleased to report good progress is being made under North Cumbria Integrated Care Trust's new leadership," he said.
"We've got a long way to go but we're on the right track."
Trudie Davies became NCIC's permanent Chief Executive Officer in May, having previously filled the role in an interim capacity.
It followed the appointment of Stephen Singleton, an ex-GP and public health professional as the trust's chairman.
The NCIC spokesperson said that the trust is preparing its future workforce "by supporting people in our local communities to have the best opportunities to secure employment with us.
"We hold employability days within local higher education venues and invite students to prepare them for interview, and we have recently taken on 30 new healthcare support workers, some of whom will go on into nursing."
Pears Cumbria School of Medicine, based in Carlisle, is a partnership between the University of Cumbria and Imperial College London.
The medical school is training the next generation of doctors, with a bespoke curriculum informed by Cumbria's health inequalities and infrastructure.
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