Nearly one fifth of nursing vacancies at Oxfordshire's major hospitals have been filled, following the launch of new recruitment schemes across the county.

Managers at the Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust are celebrating after enlisting 68 qualified nurses and midwives to work at Oxford's John Radcliffe Hospital, Churchill and Radcliffe Infirmary and The Horton, Banbury.

The increased workforce has already had an impact, with fewer beds being closed because of staff shortages.

In September, the trust had 356 empty vacancies out of a total 2,468 nursing positions, and had to plug the gap with agency staff and by asking employees to do over time.

But in the last six weeks, they have managed to reduce vacancies to 288. They believe their success is due to a number of recruitment programmes introduced in recent months to entice new workers.

Staff are being given £100 rewards for finding new recruits through the "Ask a Friend" project, and a recruitment bus is touring Oxfordshire.

Earlier this month, the trust took part in a countywide NHS recruitment fair at Oxford Town Hall.

ORH human resources director Helen Munro said: "This is good news and shows that our new recruitment schemes are having an effect."