ARMY medics are being drafted in to help plug nursing gaps at Colchester’s NHS hospitals.

The troubled trust, which runs the Turner Road general hospital and Essex County Hospital, has more than 215 nursing vacancies at the moment.

The trust was placed in special measures in 2013 and last month Colchester General Hospital was rated inadequate by watchdog the Care Quality Commission.

Now, plans are being put in place to bring combat medics into the trust as bank staff – temporary workers recruited through the NHS rather than through commercial agencies.

The hospital will continue to use other commercial agencies.

It means combat medical technicians from 16 Medical Regiment, based at Colchester Garrison, would work at the hospital when they were off Army duty.

They will predominantly be deployed in A&E and other urgent care areas.

Hospital bosses say an agreement has been reached with the medics’ commanding officers, but the numbers involved in the new scheme are not yet clear. A spokesman for Colchester Hospital University NHS Foundation Trust said: “We have been talking to Colchester Garrison about the possibility of using their combat medical technicians as bank nurses.

“The garrison has been supportive of this and has said that, as long as the individual medics’ commanding officer is happy for them to work here on the bank when they are off-duty, it’s fine by them.”

He added Army leavers were being targeted for recruitment and hospital staff were attending jobs fairs for people being discharged from the Armed Forces.

Colchester MP Sir Bob Russell welcomed the plans.

He said: “When I visited the hospital last month, in the wake of concerns over staffing levels with particular reference to accident and emergency, I suggested an approach be made to 16 Medical Regiment for mutual aid.

“I did so in the knowledge, from my visits to the field hospital at Camp Bastion in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, that many of the medics were members of the Army Reserve who worked for the NHS.

“Army medics would get continuing real-life situations to deal with, and the public would have additional qualified medical personnel to assist the hospital. This really is a win-win situation.”

Separately, as part of a large recruitment drive, the trust has offered 48 jobs to Filipino nurses, 40 of whom have accepted.

As they are not EU citizens, they cannot start work straight away. In addition, between mid- October and February 9, 25 UKregistered nurses have agreed to join the trust.

During a board meeting yesterday, trust bosses outlined plans to become a “much more flexible trust” for nurses.

Lynn Lane, director of human resources, said: “We’re no longer saying ‘no’ to people just because they can’t do a Tuesday or Wednesday morning.

“We are thinking of much more creative ways to ensure we are being as flexible as possible.”