A 40-strong fleet of nurses began initiation into working life at Mayday Hospital this month, meaning all the hospital's general nursing vacancies are full for the first time in more than a decade.

The recruitment drive, which began in the spring, attracted scores of qualified nurses to posts in medical, surgical, and elderly care fields, promising marked improvements in the experience patients have when they come to Mayday.

The success means there are no temporary nurses working on the adult wards, though A&E and critical care continues to use bank and agency staff pending Trust plans to entice specialised nurses to these areas later in the year.

One tranche of 18 enthusiastic qualified and experienced nurses began a two-week induction on August 5 with the remaining 22 new recruits to be staggered over the next two months.

Mayday's deputy director of nursing Carol Williams, told the Croydon Guardian she hoped for great things for patient care and staff morale.

She said: "We have actually filled all our available nursing vacancies, is an enormous achievement compared to where we were a year ago.

"It will make a big difference to the continuity of care because there won't be bank or agency nurses coming and going.

An additional £500,000 tagged on to this year's budget funded 14 extra nursing posts, with a further 14 to be recruited each year for three more years the result of a £2 million cash injection from Croydon Primary Care Trust.

The Croydon Guardian revealed last December how Mayday had the lowest number of nursing posts relative to patients in the whole of London, and the 12th lowest in the country.