Hospital bosses are to fly to Manila next month to recruit 120 nurses from the Philippines to tackle staff shortages and reduce spending on agency workers.

It is part of a dedicated nurse recruitment drive launched at Medway Maritime as a report reveals there were no clear staffing plans in place when A&E was experiencing unprecedented levels of demand during the Christmas and new year period.

Vacancy rates at the hospital remain high and the large turnover of nursing staff is a particular problem. The trust is still spending too much on temporary staff.

Requests for temporary workers totalled more than 100,000 hours in November and in December it was 108,000, according to a report presented to board members on Thursday.

The nurse staffing position during Christmas was “extremely poor” with 29% of shifts requested for this period unfilled – this figure is usually about 14%.

The report admits there were no clear staffing plans in place for this time, when the hospital was either at full capacity or very close to it.

Previously closed areas of the hospital were opened because of the increased demand for beds but no additional staff were planned.

There was also a high number of cancellations by agency workers.

The report also highlights the continuing problem with staff turnover which remains “above the tolerance level” and says retention has been a long standing issue for the trust.

In November and December, nine nurses, three midwives and 18 clinical support workers started work at the hospital. But during the same period, 16 nurses, four midwives and 13 clinical support workers left the organisation.

A dedicated nurse recruitment drive started at the trust at the beginning of January.

The trust has arranged 200 interviews in the Philippines to recruit 120 nurses who will work in a number of areas.

These will take place at the end of March when hospital delegates will fly to Manila.

The first cohort of successful applicants is expected to arrive in the UK from September.

Sixteen nurses have recently been recruited from Spain, Italy and Greece, and began working at the hospital at the start of January.

A further 15 from the EU are due to join the trust on April 20. Further interviews will take place over video call in March, with the aim of providing a further 35 nurses who will start work in late July or early August.

Eight neonatal intensive care nurses have been recruited from the Philippines, as a result of video call interviews in November, and are due to start work in late August.

Six junior doctors have been appointed and a further eight candidates will be interviewed in March.

The recruitment drive also includes a review of staff incentives and a focus on exit interviews to find out why people leave.

The trust is also introducing a centralised booking system for all temporary workers to try to curb spending.