NURSES, nursery nurses, health visitors and nursing support staff gathered together yesterday for a pilot team building event.

Easington Primary Care Trust held the first of three get-togethers for its nursing staff, offering them the chance to meet up and find out what has been happening in the past year and how they can influence plans for the future.

The event took place at Ramside Hall Hotel, near Shotton Hall, County Durham, and was organised by the trust's newly appointed director of service integration, Wendy Baker, chief nursing officer, Enid Hazle, community nursing manager Margaret Stacey and senior clinical nurses.

Two further team building exercises are planned, enabling all the trust's nursing staff to be involved.

The event launched the Nursing Excellence in Easington initiative, which aims to bring together nursing staff from three areas in the district and the key disciplines of district nursing, health visiting, school nursing, practice nursing, nursery nursing and specialist nursing.