HYWEL DDA UNIVERSITY HEALTH BOARD has successfully recruited new nursing and medical staff at Withybush Hospital as part of its recruitment drive and support for the Haverfordwest hospital.

A recent recruitment day resulted in the appointment of 22 nurses across the Hywel Dda area, with four at Withybush Hospital. In addition, the UHB is attracting more interest from doctors in England, with one successful appointment to a consultant anaesthetist post at Withybush Hospital, due to start at the end of April.

Chief Executive Steve Moore said: “I am really pleased that we have been able to make a number of appointments at Withybush Hospital and, along with our ongoing work to develop new and attractive service models, hope this demonstrates to the people of Pembrokeshire our very real commitment to the hospital. I would also like to acknowledge and thank frontline staff who have worked so hard during this extremely busy period.”

Across Wales, demand for hospital services has been at an all-time high and Withybush Hospital has faced significant pressure since the start of the year, particularly for emergency unscheduled care.

The University Health Board has established a dedicated Programme Board to support the hospital and ensure its commitment to providing emergency and urgent care at the hospital 24 hours a day is fulfilled. This involves detailed discussions and actions by a wide range of staff from senior clinical leads, doctors and other healthcare professionals, managers, GP representatives and other partners.

Significant effort has been channelled into improving recruitment and retention of staff. As well as the nursing and anaesthetist appointments, the University Health Board is exploring new service models aimed at attracting new staff and retaining existing staff.

Agreement has been reached on creating two additional physician posts at Withybush Hospital, which will improve rota cover and hopefully attract more applicants. It has also been agreed to establish a Consultant Ortho-Geriatrician, to provide specific care tailored for older orthopaedic patients. The Programme Board is also exploring new models of care for emergency and inpatient services. One of these is around frail, older patients, to reduce the incidence of them having to wait in the Emergency Department

In addition, career pages have been developed on a number of social media sites to highlight vacancies to a wider pool of talent. Corporate web pages have been revamped to highlight key links to travel, housing and schooling, aimed at making transition easier for re-locating candidates.

Current posts being advertised for Withybush Hospital, and which can be found on NHS Jobs (www.jobs.nhs. uk), include:

Trust CT medicine – an opportunity to gain experience in a modern busy general medicine unit in a rural setting with responsibility for patients on wards, clinical investigations, diagnosis and treatment of all patients admitted, including the maintaining of clinical notes and completion of discharge summaries

CT LAS emergency medicine – an opportunity for Junior Doctors wishing to gain experience in Emergency medicine or for those looking for a career in Emergency Medicine in a modern busy general medicine unit in a rural setting

Speciality Doctor General Medicine – we are looking for dynamic and motivated doctors to join our general medicine specialities including Care of the Elderly, Respiratory, Diabetes/Endocrinology, Gastroenterology Cardiology and Oncology

Trust CT General Surgery – an opportunity to gain experience in general surgery with responsibility for patients on wards, clinical investigations, diagnosis and treatment of all patients admitted, including the maintaining of clinical notes and completion of discharge summaries

Staff Nurse Gynaecology – we are looking for an enthusiastic and motivated individual to join our gynaecology outpatient department team. The gynaecology department is a busy unit providing a wide range of clinics and procedures, diagnostic and therapeutic. The Department has a friendly supportive environment, which is strongly focused on teamwork and patient care

Consultant Ortho-Geriatrician – the existing Elderly Medicine team contribute to the acute medical on call as well as the rehabilitation and assessment of patients. The post holder will develop within the Orthopaedic Department an acute service for the management of Hip Fractures, and a comprehensive rehabilitation service for all orthopaedic patients within the department

Staff nurse Outpatients – we have a vacancy within our busy Outpatient Departments based at Withybush Hospital and covering outpatient areas at both Tenby and South Pembrokeshire Hospitals

Chair Bernardine Rees said: “Withybush Hospital remains open 24-hours a day. We want to continue to work with our staff, public and stakeholders because all of us have the same desire – to protect provision of excellent NHS services here in Pembrokeshire and the rest of Hywel Dda.”