Nurses recruited in Dubai will soon be arriving at Dorset County Hospital.

Hospital Governor David Tett has welcomed the additional support and says he is glad the campaign was a success – and has asked if the hospital will repeat the process.

Chief executive Patricia Miller told him at Monday’s Council of Governors meeting that it had been anticipated that the Dubai nurses would fill current gaps in the rota, but she said that the hospital was still recruiting locally.

The nurses recruited in Dubai, although not necessarily from that country, are said to be arriving in Dorset ‘in a couple of weeks.’

The hospital was unable to confirm on Tuesday how many were coming or what jobs they would be doing, but DCH had almost 40 vacancies for nursing staff at the turn of the year.

Ms Miller told Governors at their Council meeting that unless nurses from outside EU countries were quickly able to attain senior grades their earnings would not be enough to meet immigration rules for skilled workers, allowing them to stay in this country.

At the end of January this year Dorset County Hospital told the Echo that the hospital was doing well for nurse recruitment compared to others in the region.

A DCH spokesman said at the time: “Our vacancy rate for all nursing posts was 3 per cent in December 2017, which was the lowest level since June, largely due to progress we’ve made in recruiting healthcare assistants.

“In terms of ward-based registered nurses we currently have 35 vacancies which we expect to fill this year.”

The spokesman added: “Nursing is at the heart of our hospital and we are always looking for compassionate, skilled nurses. We take great pride in our staff and invest in their development through a robust support programme.”