Nurse staffing on hospital wards

Published 09/07/2013   |   Last Updated 27/05/2021   |   Reading Time minutes

The Francis Inquiry found that a chronic shortage of staff, particularly nursing staff, was a major factor in the substandard care provided in the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust, and there have been renewed calls on health leaders to ensure appropriate levels of staffing on hospital wards in order to protect patient safety.

These research notes provide information on current nurse staffing levels in Wales and the case for mandatory nurse:patient ratios, and a description of the roles and responsibilities of nursing support workers and registered nurses within the different bands. hospital  

 


Article by Philippa Watkins, National Assembly for Wales Research Service. Image from Flickr by José Goulão. Licenced under the Creative Commons