CALDERSTONES Hospital has struggled to recruit permanent staff to fill gaps in its workforce, partly due to a shortage of learning disability nurses.

There are currently about 80 clinical vacancies at its Whalley site, which represents about 10 per cent of the workforce, and so the trust is reliant on temporary staff to plug the gaps.

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A recent report to board members said: “The organisation is dealing with significant levels of sickness and absence and struggling to recruit to fill vacant posts.

“The situation has been particularly acute during January and February and robust plans are now in place to address the current situation that will be implemented during the next two months.”

It comes after a difficult winter for the trust, in which it was heavily criticised by inspectors from the Care Quality Commission, before a government advisor said ‘institutions like Calderstones’ should be closed down.

A spokesman for Calderstones Partnership NHS Foundation Trust said: “The trust’s programme of ongoing recruitment together with the contraction of some services will reduce these vacancies over the next few months.”

Earlier this month the Lancashire Telegraph revealed that Calderstones has shed more than 200 permanent staff since 2010, while annual spending on temporary workers has steadily increased from about £1.3 million to £2 million.