Safe Staffing

The Trust's current staffing levels for Nurses, Midwives and Care Staff

University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust (UHBW) was formed on 1 April 2020 following the merger of University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust and Weston Area Health NHS Trust.

The information on this page is historic. Visit the UHBW about us page for the latest information.

From June 2014 it became a national requirement for all hospitals to publish information about staffing levels on wards, including the percentage of shifts meeting their agreed staffing levels. This was in response to the Francis Report which called for greater openness and transparency in the health service. The results are available through the NHS Choices website, as well as on our website.

What is safe staffing?

Safe staffing relies on good management so that posts are filled and deployed effectively and the staff employed is available to work. The Trust has a duty to ensure nursing and midwifery staffing levels are sufficient to maintain safety and provide quality care.

Why are we doing this?

The intention of this is to show how trusts across the NHS ensure the safety of their staffing levels and skill mix. The Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) for England, Jane Cummings with the National Quality Board (NQB) and the Trust Development Authority (TDA), produced guidance in December 2013 for Trusts which sought to support organisations in making the right decisions to create supportive environments where their staff are able to provide compassionate care.

What are we doing?

We are undertaking the following

Monthly workforce reporting to the Trust Board supported with clinical indicators, including reported staffing incident.
Six monthly establishment reviews presented to the Trust Board
Each ward display planned versus actual staffing numbers
We publish monthly workforce data on the trust’s public facing website.

This will demonstrate how we ensure the safety of our staffing levels and skill mix. It is well documented that shows that nurse staffing levels make a difference to patient outcomes (mortality and adverse events), patient experience, quality of care and the efficiency of care delivery.

Monitoring

We have a system in place for monitoring staffing on a daily basis. The acuity/dependency of patients (how sick or dependent they are) is also monitored closely as this ultimately affects that type and amount of care they need.

Escalation

There is a process for escalating any concerns and ensuring actions are taken.

Reviewing Establishments

Setting establishments is complex and having the right staff, with the right skills, in the right place is about more than the numbers and type of staff (registered and unregistered) but is also about leadership, culture, support and education.

Every month, we will publish information about our staffing levels and provide links to papers discussed in public at our bi-monthly Trust Board Meetings

Supporting information