EU nurse recruitment will continue despite Brexit

Some 100 staff have arrived from EU countries like Spain, Romania, Croatia and Italy in the past 18 months.

The overseas recruitment drive was aimed at cutting huge agency costs amid a shortage of nurses in this country.

Tracey McErlain-Burns, Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust’s chief nurse, said: “Since February 2015, we have recruited 100 nurses from the European Union. 

“These colleagues have, and continue to, make a fantastic contribution to the care we deliver every day. 

“In light of the recent referendum, we want to make it clear that the status of our current European nurses will not change, and recruiting from overseas will remain one of several options we consider when recruiting. 

“While we have no immediate plans to recruit from overseas, we continue to attract nurses from across the region and next month we will be holding a nurse recruitment event at the hospital for a range of positions.”

The hospital spent £15.5 million on agency staff in 2015/16 — nearly five times more than it had planned.

Eighty-eight of the EU nurses are still employed by the hospital, trust papers said in June.