More than 2,300 applications have been received in less than one week following a major recruitment drive by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) to take on additional staff to help combat COVID-19.
An immediate call from NHSGGC to increase its Staff Bank workforce to fill roles for Estates and Facilities staff, Healthcare Support Workers, Registered Staff Nurses and Allied Healthcare Professionals will provide significantly more capacity at the frontline in coming weeks and months.
This first cohort of circa 1,000 new Bank Staff will bolster Greater Glasgow and Clyde’s workforce and play an integral role in the delivery of services during a crucial period.
The move forms part of a wider mobilisation plan to manage a significant increase in the number of COVID-19 cases being treated in hospitals and in the community, while also ensuring non-COVID-19 patients continue to receive care.
Recruitment will be reviewed with a view to taking on more staff as and when required and in line with NHS Scotland’s contingency planning. NHSGGC has operational, tactical and strategic groups to regularly discuss and ensure any planning requirements on staffing and resources can be rapidly implemented across the region.
The current situation has already seen a huge response as the public and essential workforces have come together as part of a much wider cooperative approach to the outbreak. In healthcare, a large number of recently retired healthcare staff are set to join efforts around the country, with a significant number of individuals expressing interest to support NHSGGC. Alongside this, 450 final year nursing students are also being scheduled into full time roles.
This has been bolstered by hundreds of volunteers who have stepped up to the mark to provide key operational services within NHSGGC such as delivering food and medicines, driving patients to appointments and phoning isolated patients.
Nareen Owens, Head of People and Change – Development and Support at NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, said:
“We have been overwhelmed with the support our staff are receiving – from the public to volunteers to qualified healthcare workers actively applying to fill roles – and we are extremely grateful.
“Our recruitment drive will provide an essential cohort of healthcare staff to help us effectively manage our COVID-19 response and ensure we have the people in place to deliver safe, effective person centred care to both COVID-19 and other patients across the health board.
“The current situation is unprecedented, and we working together with the Scottish Government to help deliver a robust contingency plan to manage the outbreak in coming weeks and months and we’d once again like to thank all of our staff, alongside volunteers, and retired and former healthcare workers, for their efforts so far.”
All vacancies within NHSGGC can be found by visiting: https://apply.jobs.scot.nhs.uk/