Telford College is running a series of free courses at Shropshire’s main hospitals to help staff improve their maths skills.

The ‘Multiply’ courses are running in partnership with The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH) at the Princess Royal Hospital in Telford, and Royal Shrewsbury Hospital.

Ben Hughes, Telford College’s learner manager for maths, is delivering more than 15 hours of maths classes to help staff upskill and update their knowledge.

They then have the option of enrolling on one of Telford College’s functional skills maths courses.

The first two sessions were held at the Telford hospital site on March 27, and April 19. Two further sessions are planned at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital on May 17 and 25.

Ashley Bowler, director of vocational at Telford College, said: “Multiply is a new Government-funded programme to help adults improve their numeracy skills.

“If you’re aged 19 and over and don’t currently have maths GCSE at grade C or equivalent, you can access free numeracy courses through Multiply to build your confidence with numbers and gain a qualification.

“We have started with four courses, but hope to provide more courses in the coming months in our local hospitals.”

Sarah Thomas, senior education business partner at SaTH, said: “This has been such a brilliant experience for staff and the feedback has been excellent.

“Some of those who have attended say that they have always struggled and disliked maths, but this course had made them feel so positive about achieving the qualification.

“We would encourage any member of staff to sign up to take part in the free course to improve their maths skills.”