Find nursing shifts across the South West
Book NHS and care shifts from Cornwall to Wiltshire in a few taps, see your confirmed pay before you accept, and get paid without chasing timesheets. Novello is built for nurses and carers who want steady work close to home.
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Looking for work in the South West?
Leave your details and we’ll come back to you with the nursing, care and support shifts we have near you in the South West — and what they pay. It takes about twenty seconds.
Nursing in the South West
Why nurses choose Novello in the South West
One app to find local shifts, see your pay and stay compliant, backed by a team that knows the region, from Derriford in Plymouth to Southmead in Bristol.
Shifts near you, not across the region
The South West is a big, spread-out region, so you pick the shifts that suit you. Whether you are in Devon, Cornwall, around Bristol, in Gloucestershire, Somerset, Wiltshire or Dorset, the app shows what is available nearby, so you are not driving for hours for a single shift.
Confirmed pay before you say yes
Every shift shows its rate up front. Your confirmed rate is shown in the app before you accept, so you see exactly what you will earn, and you are paid promptly with no chasing timesheets or waiting weeks to find out where you stand.
Compliance sorted once, then out of your way
We handle your DBS, mandatory training and revalidation checks properly, so you can move between an NHS ward in Bristol, a care home in Cornwall or a secure unit in Wiltshire without repeating the same paperwork for every placement.
The region we cover
The healthcare landscape in the South West
The South West stretches from the tip of Cornwall to the edge of Wiltshire and Dorset, a region of around 5.76 million people whose hospitals, mental health services and care homes all lean on flexible nursing staff.
Acute care across the South West spans two major trauma networks, which is the defining feature of the region. In the far south west, the Peninsula Major Trauma Network centres on Derriford Hospital in Plymouth, run by University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust, the designated major trauma centre for the whole South West Peninsula and a tertiary centre for neurosurgery, cardiothoracic surgery and renal transplant, with Royal Cornwall at Treliske in Truro and the Devon hospitals at Exeter, Barnstaple and Torbay feeding it as trauma units. Across the Bristol, Gloucestershire and Somerset belt, the Severn Major Trauma Network centres on Southmead Hospital in Bristol, whose Brunel building and helipad take the most serious injuries, alongside the only paediatric major trauma centre in the South West at Bristol Royal Hospital for Children. Dorset and southern Wiltshire, including Salisbury, send their major trauma out of the region to the Wessex centre at University Hospital Southampton.
Beyond the trauma centres, the region’s acute care is carried by a spread of named trusts. Royal Devon University Healthcare runs the Royal Devon and Exeter and North Devon District in Barnstaple, and Torbay and South Devon runs Torbay Hospital. Royal Cornwall Hospitals is the single acute trust for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. In Bristol, the newly formed Bristol NHS Foundation Trust, created in July 2026 from the merger of North Bristol and University Hospitals Bristol and Weston, is now one of the largest NHS trusts in the country, running Southmead, the Bristol Royal Infirmary, the children’s hospital and Weston General. Gloucestershire Hospitals runs Gloucestershire Royal and Cheltenham General, Somerset NHS Foundation Trust runs Musgrove Park in Taunton and Yeovil District, Great Western Hospitals runs the Great Western in Swindon, Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust runs Salisbury District Hospital with its regional spinal and burns centres, and University Hospitals Dorset and Dorset County Hospital cover Bournemouth, Poole and Dorchester.
Where we work
Where we cover in the South West
From the Cornish coast and the Devon moors to the Bristol conurbation, the Cotswolds and the Dorset shore, we place nurses and carers across every setting.
Hospitals and theatres
We support wards, day units and operating theatres across the region’s acute trusts, from Derriford in Plymouth and Royal Cornwall at Truro to Southmead and the Bristol Royal Infirmary, Gloucestershire Royal, Musgrove Park in Taunton, the Great Western in Swindon and the hospitals of Dorset.
Care homes and community
Nursing and residential homes across all seven counties rely on regular agency cover, from Cornwall and Devon up through Somerset and Gloucestershire to Wiltshire and Dorset, and we place carers and nurses for community and district rounds too.
Mental health and secure care
We cover mental health inpatient units and secure and forensic settings, from the Fromeside medium secure unit in Bristol and Wotton Lawn in Gloucester to Langdon Hospital in Dawlish, as well as nurse-led healthcare inside the region’s prisons.
That takes in Devon, Cornwall, Bristol, Gloucestershire, Somerset, Wiltshire and Dorset, with major cities from Plymouth and Exeter to Bristol, Gloucester, Bath, Taunton, Swindon and Bournemouth.
Bordering areas we also cover include the West Midlands and the South East.
On the map
Nursing shifts across the South West
We cover the whole region, from the Cornish coast and the Devon moors to Bristol, the Cotswolds and the Dorset shore.
Specialisms in the South West
Specialisms we cover in the South West
Whatever your ward or setting, there is regular work right across the region.
- Nursing & care homes
- Mental health
- Prison nursing
- Critical care
- Theatres
Nursing & care homes
The South West has one of the oldest populations in England, which keeps demand for care staff high. Across the region there are around 2,100 care-providing organisations running some 4,500 locations, with roughly 194,000 posts of which about 182,000 are filled and 13,000 vacant, and the independent sector alone holding around 147,000 filled posts (Skills for Care, South West summary, 2023/24). Counties such as Devon (around 27 per cent aged 65 and over), Dorset (around 30 per cent) and Cornwall (around 25 per cent) sit well above the national average, so nursing and residential homes here need steady, reliable agency cover, and it is some of the most consistent work we offer.
Mental health
Mental health work spans several trusts. Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership, one of the largest providers in the South West, covers Bristol and Wiltshire and runs the Fromeside medium secure unit at Blackberry Hill Hospital. Devon Partnership provides forensic and low secure care at Langdon Hospital in Dawlish, Gloucestershire Health and Care runs Wotton Lawn in Gloucester with its Greyfriars PICU and Montpellier low secure unit, and Dorset HealthCare runs St Ann’s Hospital in Poole. We place mental health nurses and support workers into inpatient wards, community teams and secure units.
Prison nursing
The South West holds a varied prison estate. Devon has HMP Exeter, HMP Channings Wood near Newton Abbot and the emptied HMP Dartmoor at Princetown, Bristol has the Category B HMP Bristol at Horfield with its inpatient healthcare unit, and Gloucestershire has the open HMP Leyhill and the women’s prison HMP Eastwood Park. Wiltshire has HMP Erlestoke near Devizes, and Dorset holds a cluster on and near the Isle of Portland with HMP The Verne, HMP and YOI Portland and HMP Guys Marsh near Shaftesbury. Prison healthcare is nurse-led and always short of hands, and it is some of the most rewarding work going for nurses who want something different from a ward.
Critical care
Critical care across the region is anchored by two major trauma centres. Derriford Hospital in Plymouth is the major trauma centre for the whole South West Peninsula and a tertiary centre for neurosurgery, cardiothoracic and renal transplant work, while Southmead Hospital in Bristol takes the most serious injuries from across the Severn network, backed by the only paediatric major trauma centre in the South West at Bristol Royal Hospital for Children. Intensive care units at Royal Cornwall, the Royal Devon and Exeter, Gloucestershire Royal, Musgrove Park and RUH Bath act as trauma units feeding the two networks. We place experienced ITU and HDU nurses where the pressure is highest.
Theatres
Theatre work runs right across the region. The acute trusts operate scores of theatres between them, from Derriford and Royal Cornwall in the far south west to Southmead, the Bristol Royal Infirmary, Cheltenham General with its cancer and planned surgery, Musgrove Park in Taunton and Poole, which is becoming a dedicated planned-care hospital. We place scrub, anaesthetic and recovery nurses across elective and emergency work.
Care & support work in the South West
Care and support work in the South West
Most care across the South West is delivered by care assistants and support workers rather than registered nurses. The region has one of the oldest populations in England and around 4,500 registered care locations, and the work spans elderly care homes, supported living and specialist neuro-rehabilitation. Whatever your background, there is regular work near you.
- Care assistant
- Support worker
- Dementia care
- Brain injury
Care assistant
The South West’s coastal towns have some of the oldest populations anywhere in the country: in Christchurch in Dorset more than 30% of residents are aged 65 or over, close to double the national average of around 16%, and the former West Somerset district once recorded the oldest average age of anywhere in the UK. Older people’s care homes cluster along this coast and across Devon and Cornwall, where more than a quarter of the population is aged 65 or over. Care assistants are the backbone of these homes, supporting residents with everyday living, personal care and companionship.
Support worker
Alongside its care homes, the South West has a large supported-living sector for adults with learning disabilities and autism, with every council — from Cornwall and Devon to Dorset and Bristol — commissioning support in the community rather than in hospitals or long-stay residential care. Bristol-based Brandon Trust, one of the region’s larger learning-disability charities, is among the providers delivering this work across the South West. That means steady demand for support workers who help the people they support live as independently as possible, in their own homes and out in the community.
Dementia care
The South West has one of the oldest populations in England — around 30% of Dorset’s residents are aged 65 or over, well above the national average — and because dementia rises sharply with age, the region carries some of the highest numbers of people living with dementia in the country. As its older population keeps growing, so does the need for skilled dementia care in local care homes. Dementia care is some of the most valued work in the sector, supporting residents to live well day to day.
Brain injury
The South West has a genuine specialist neuro cluster — the regional neurosciences and major trauma centre at Southmead Hospital in Bristol, tertiary neurosurgery at Derriford in Plymouth, the regional spinal injuries centre at Salisbury, and a Headway brain-injury centre in Exeter serving Devon and Torbay. Rehabilitation support workers here help the people they support rebuild skills and independence after a brain or spinal injury, work closely related to the complex-care roles that involve tracheostomy and other clinical support.
Not sure which fits? See all care & support roles →
The Novello app
Your work life, in one app
Find the South West shifts, see your confirmed pay and keep your compliance in one place. No more chasing paperwork. Everything you need, on iOS and Android.
For the South West employers
Need nurses in the South West?
We help services across the region fill shifts fast, with staff who are checked and ready.
Whether you run a nursing home in Cornwall, a ward in Bristol or Gloucester, a mental health unit in Wiltshire or a theatre list in Dorset, we can supply compliant nurses and carers at short notice. Tell us what you need and we will match reliable local staff who know the setting.
Reviews
Don't just take our word for it.
Novello are highly professional, making the onboarding process easier. What I like most is the fact I can book shifts on the app at my own convenience!
Sarah Theatre
Very competent staff and a welcoming, supportive team. What I like most is the variety of shifts in the Novello app!
Khadra RGN
Everything is really simple. The whole process of joining, and then finding and booking shifts. It's so simple!
Dan SFA
Frameworks & accreditations
Good to know
South West nursing agency FAQs
What kind of nursing shifts can I pick up in the South West?
Plenty. We cover acute wards and theatres across trusts like University Hospitals Plymouth, Royal Cornwall, Bristol NHS Foundation Trust, Gloucestershire Hospitals and Somerset, along with care homes, community rounds, mental health units and prison healthcare, from Cornwall and Devon up to Wiltshire and Dorset.
Which areas of the South West do you cover?
All of it. Devon, Cornwall, Bristol, Gloucestershire, Somerset, Wiltshire and Dorset, including cities from Plymouth and Exeter to Bristol, Gloucester, Bath, Swindon and Bournemouth.
How does pay work?
Every shift shows its rate before you accept, so your confirmed rate is shown in the app and you always know exactly what you will earn. You are paid promptly, with no chasing timesheets or waiting weeks to find out where you stand.
Do you place mental health and prison nurses?
Yes. The South West has several mental health trusts and a spread of prisons including HMP Bristol, HMP Exeter, HMP Eastwood Park and HMP Erlestoke, and we place nurses and support workers into secure, forensic and inpatient settings as well as general wards.
I am an employer in the South West. Can you help us with staffing?
Yes. We supply checked, compliant nurses and carers to hospitals, care homes, mental health units and secure settings across the region, often at short notice. Get in touch and we will help you fill your rota.
Ready to work on your terms in the South West?
Join Novello and start booking NHS and care shifts from Cornwall and Devon to Bristol, Wiltshire and Dorset today, with your confirmed pay shown up front and real support behind you. Download the app or get in touch to get started.
Call 0333 307 8897 · hello@novellohealthcare.com
