HOSPITAL chiefs have been forced to make generous overtime payments to nurses in a bid to maintain adequate staffing levels.

Senior managers at Calderstones NHS Trust are paying existing employees extra cash after failing to recruit enough nursing staff.

Trust chiefs are understood to have asked nurses to work double shifts as they struggle to maintain the proper levels of staffing.

Finance chiefs at Calderstones have calculated that the trust is currently underspending by almost £250,000 on its nursing services budget mainly because of its inability to recruit nurses on short-term contracts.

Yesterday the Lancashire Evening Telegraph disclosed that a shortage of nurses in the district was leaving hospitals struggling to cope with a crippling workload.

Calderstones has admitted that it is "increasingly unlikely" that recruitment will reach the budgeted levels. A trust spokeswoman said: "Staff have been asked if they would be prepared to do overtime.

"It is so we can continue to get clients off the wards and out into the activity areas.

"The response has been good and we are confident we can cover adequately."

She said nursing staff are being paid standard overtime of time-and-a-half from Monday to Saturday and double time at weekends and Bank Holidays.

Most of the Calderstones site is due to close by 1998 with the trust retaining the Chestnut Drive medium secure unit.

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