And more good news – extra staff are on the way
Thirty new members of staff are due to start work at Scarborough Hospital in the new year. Ten new trainee advanced clinical practitioners will join Scarborough Hospital in January and undertake a two-year programme which will include a mixture of practical learning at the hospital and academic study delivered by Sheffield Hallam University.
They will be joined by 20 trainee nursing associate apprentices. During the two-year period they will develop the skills and knowledge needed to allow them to take on expanded roles and scope of practice caring for patients. Upon successful completion of the programme in 2021, they will join the hospital as fully qualified advanced clinical practitioners.
David Thomas, directorate manager at the emergency department, said: “This is great news for Scarborough. Of the 10 trainee advanced clinical practitioners half are external recruits to the Trust, which is excellent as we have been able to secure new talent to the area. “The programme also allows us to advance a number of existing excellent people, ensuring they can flourish in a place where they already have experience. “Once qualified, the trainees will join our growing team of substantive advanced clinical practitioners and this will enable us to employ them in both the emergency department, as well as the acute ward areas working alongside, and supporting our junior doctor teams. “In doing so, we will be able to enhance the capacity and capability within teams by supporting existing roles and provide continuity of care which will ultimately improve patient safety. This initiative is timely as the end of the training programme is aligned with the creation of the new multi-million pound state of the art Combined Emergency Assessment Unit at Scarborough Hospital, which was announced last week. This new facility will improve and streamline how patients are assessed, admitted and treated - so our new colleagues are joining us at just the right time.”
The trainee nursing associate role, which has been offered to existing healthcare assistants, will bridge the gap between the role of a healthcare assistant and a registered nurse. The two-year foundation degree programme for nursing associates combines both academic and work-based learning, with the academic aspect of the programme delivered by CU Scarborough. Beverley Geary, chief nurse at York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, said: “This is an excellent opportunity for healthcare assistants at Scarborough Hospital who want to progress their career and we are really excited to be offering these roles to our staff based here.
“It is very important to recognise the vital contribution our non-registered staff make. The Trust is committed to ‘growing our own’ as we know that we have a lot of potential in our health care workforce.”