STAFF morale is positive at Blackpool Victoria Hospital's psychiatric unit, say managers, despite it being one of the busiest wards in the country.

This insight follows recent claims that nurses at the unit are attempting to sue the NHS Trust for being put under unneccesary stress.

Sandy Bell, UNISON branch secretary at the Trust, was quoted in an issue of the Nursing Times as saying: "We are in the preliminary stages at the moment, but the majority of staff on the unit are suffering from stress. We have referred six cases of stress to our legal department for advice."

But Nigel Roberts, operational manager and mental health nurse at the unit, was unaware of any such impending legal action.

He said: "At present I am not aware that any of our staff are off work with anxiety or stress-related problems. Yes, staff here are under immense pressure but so are staff at many other mental health units across the country -- it is not just a problem for Blackpool.

"I think that staff morale is generally good here because they are aware that we are addressing the problems by recruiting more staff and treating incidents of violence against staff very seriously. "There is also lots of counselling and psychological help on offer to all our staff who are regularly reviewed and monitored."

Tom Bradshaw, ward manager for Ward 29 -- the female acute admissions ward -- went on to describe what the staff face each day.

"The pressure is tremendous. We are dealing with very ill and disturbed people. We deal with everything from self-harmers to suicidal patients. We have two acute wards and they are permanently over full -- there is constant pressure for beds.

"I don't think there can be a busier unit in the country. All the staff here are doing an excellent job. They are literally helping to keep people alive. For instance I may have to deploy three or four nurses to one patient at any one time to stop them from killing or injuring themselves.

"Things will improve soon as there is lots of good work going on here and we have excellent managers and staff. We are also recruiting more staff at present."

UNISON's Sandy Bell, when contacted by The Citizen, said she didn't wish to comment further on the situation.