Ward Workforce - Safe Staffing

Each month we collect the average number of hours of qualified and unqualified nursing care available to patients on a daily basis.

This is reflected as Care Hours Per Patient Day.

You can see our monthly figures below:

What does it mean when the numbers show staff on duty at more than 100%?

On any of our wards, we may have patients with very particular care needs who may require one person to care for them, in order to keep them safe. This will not have been known about when the roster was planned - as it happens 6 weeks in advance. Therefore additional staff are sought, and because it was not planned, it shows as additional to the planned staff, and is displayed as over 100%.

What does it mean if there were less than 100%?

Where there are shortfalls, usually due to sickness, there is an escalation process of how we cover any shortfall that is required. There are times when the wards are quiet where cover may not be required and this is assessed by the Nurse in Charge of the ward and the Matron.

This escalation process includes the Chief Nurse when needed.

On the wards there are Safety Information Boards, these give important information about the quality of the care that each ward delivers. On these boards you will find information about the number of qualified and the numbers of support staff that should be on duty for that shift and the number that are.

Please do ask the nursing staff on your ward about the information shown on their Safety Information Boards.