Many readers will have seen the coverage of our initiative to drop a 'back to nursing' leaflet through all 80,000-plus letter boxes locally (news focus, page 9, 11 February). It has been the most cost-effective method we have so far used to identify potential job applicants.

In parallel, we determined the postcodes of all qualified nurses employed by the trust.

These figures were contrasted with the numbers of qualified nurses appearing on the UKCC register from the same postcode areas.

The results were disappointing. We would now like to undertake a project with five other trusts to identify the reasons for our apparent shortfall. The first stage would involve the other trusts determining equivalent penetration figures using local and UKCC figures.

The second stage would involve appointing a researcher to identify why nurses work in each of the six trusts.

The timescale would be no longer than nine months. Each participating trust would receive a report identifying the key steps to bring about an improvement.

Professor Brian Moores

Non-executive director

Calderdale Healthcare trust

phone: 01422-321628

fax: 01422-322485

e-mail: brian@simmcarrfarm.demon.co.uk

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