Managers at Oxford's crisis-ridden John Radcliffe Hospital are ploughing 500,000 into measures to encourage nurses to stay in their stressful jobs.

Budget money has been earmarked to relieve the pressures, through improvements to the casualty department and the level six and seven acute general medicine wards.

Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust board members said they had considered ways to help health professionals working in accident and emergency and on medical wards, who have suffered front-line problems because of low staffing levels and closed beds. The acute general medicine unit, which is suffering the heaviest staff shortages in the hospital, will be given an extra 250,000 a year, while 100,000 will be set aside for the accident and emergency unit.

The money has been found by juggling and prioritising the trust finances. It means doctors and nurses will be able to get new equipment.

It should help unblock jams in the hospital system, which often mean patients are stacked up on trolleys in casualty corridors. The investment will pave the way for further crisis-busting strategies planned for the autumn.

The trust is getting geared up to launch the new Medical Assessment Unit, fast-tracking GP referrals to wards by bypassing the casualty department. It is also hoping to start the 18-month-long 7m redevelopment scheme in the A & E area. The board will also spend 150,000 reopening 35 nurses' homes.

Chief executive David Highton said: "The board wishes to thank publicly all the staff working in the front-line."