THERE is a hugely worrying shortage of nurses, so the announcement that hundreds of additional ones are to be trained by Oxford Brookes University is very welcome.

Something else to be welcomed is the fact that many of the new intake will be trained in Swindon, at the university’s Ferndale campus.

With luck, a substantial number of them will develop a fondness for the town and the local hospital.

It is frankly disconcerting that the issue of nursing shortages is only now being addressed in this dynamic manner; after all, the extent and effects of those shortages have been glaringly obvious for a very long time.

Quite apart from the potential risk to patients when hard-pressed staff are spread far too thinly, the effect on staff morale is highly damaging.

In the case of Great Western Hospital, the skill of front line medical staff has never been in question, but it stands to reason that eliminating exhaustion and dispiritedness can only be a good thing.

Remedies for the shortfall have until now mainly centred around employing agency staff and casting the recruitment net ever wider across Europe and further afield.

Both of these options are more expensive than simply having enough staff on hand.

The only true solution, incorporating permanence and sustainability as well as economic practicality, is to train more staff here.

The presence of more nurses will mean less exhaustion and burnout, which will in turn improve the experience of patients and make the profession more attractive to newer recruits further down the line.

We look forward to regular progress reports on what may well turn out to be the most positive local NHS news of recent times.