Frontline staff at Royal Bolton are set to be bolstered by the arrival of more than 70 new highly skilled international nurses this year.

Eight nurses, from Ghana, Kenya and Nigeria, arrived in the country at the end of April and once their training is finished will be the first of 72 to come to work in Bolton this year.

The training will see them become Nursing and Midwifery Council registered, a crucial qualification for working in the NHS.

Nigerian born Adaobi Orikpe said: “It was not difficult for me to choose Bolton as my preferred place of work as the community of Bolton and its people are known to be hospitable and friendly.

“Bolton NHS Foundation Trust came out top in terms of teamwork and collaboration among staff members, as well as high standards of professionalism.

“It also has good integrated clinical practice and most importantly indulges in patient-centred clinical practice.”

The Bolton News:

The nurses are excited to start work in Bolton

All the nurses have been recruited and trained from start to finish by Bolton NHS Foundation Trust.

So far 20 have already arrived during 2021 with the next 72 joining throughout this year.

Temidayo Okunola, also from Nigeria, said: “I chose Bolton at first because the trust values matched my drive and then when I got interviewed my passion increased as my interview panel were very friendly.

“The whole recruitment process was very consistent and now I’ve been to Bolton I know it couldn’t be better.”

The new nurses’ training will be finished within eight weeks, after which they will start work at the hospital.

Trust deputy chief executive and director of people James Mawrey said: “We’re really looking forward to when our new international nurses start with us and are delighted they’ve chosen to work with us at Bolton.

“We’ll do everything we can to help them settle in and feel at home in Bolton and give them the opportunities they need to provide the highest levels of care for our patients.

“Thank you to our recruitment team for their hard work managing this recruitment process, the first time we’ve managed the process from start to finish by ourselves without any external companies.”