Royal Bolton Hospital has secured more than 60 flats to help new international nurses and their families settle in the area.

Dozens of nurses from India, Hong Kong, Kenya and beyond have already arrived to work at the hospital so far since 2021 with another 72 set to join them by the end of August.

The 60 flats are found in recently developed block near the Minerva Street hospital and the 21 new nurses already in the borough have now been welcomed to Bolton NHS Foundation Trust with a special party.

Bolton NHS Foundation Trust head of resourcing Paul Henshaw said: “Our dedicated international recruitment team have worked tirelessly to make sure all our new nursing recruits have good quality accommodation.

“After initially staying in our on-site accommodation blocks they will move into a recently developed block close to the hospital, which ensures we have enough capacity for both now and the future.

“It was so special to be able to greet them at the welcome event on the weekend, and you could see what it meant to bring their families together.”

The international nurses will be working in clinical areas such as medicine, operating theatres and critical care and have been recruited as part of a nationwide effort to boost nursing numbers known as the Nursing International Recruitment Programme.

Eight nurses were announced to have arrived last May from Ghana, Kenya and Nigeria, all of them having been recruited and trained from start to finish by Bolton NHS Foundation Trust.

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

NHS England says that its programme aims to help health trusts become the "destination of choice" for internationally trained nurses.

A statement said: “The safe arrival, induction and embedding of new people into the NHS workforce is our number one priority for international recruitment.

“We have put in place a package of financial support for trusts to increase the number of international recruits they have, and as a priority to provide safe onboarding, induction and pastoral support for these recruits.”