NEWS
Skill mix, not numbers, is the most important issue, says chief nurse Displaying staffing levels at ward entrances would not improve care and could heighten patient anxiety, says the chief nurse at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust in London. Eileen Sills told Nursing Standard that Guy’s and St Thomas’ will not follow other NHS trusts, including Salford Royal and Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh, which have boards on wards listing how many staff are on shift and how many there should be. She said there is a danger patients could think wards are short staffed when the skill mix matches patient acuity. ‘Staffing numbers is just a tiny bit of the picture. I am more interested in the skills of the staff on duty,’ she said. Ms Sills added that she welcomed the government’s announcement that hospitals will publish staffing levels for all wards on a monthly basis from April. Guy’s and St Thomas’ has more than 1,000 beds and employs 3,465 whole-time equivalent (WTE) nurses. Last April, it published a report on staffing levels for the trust board, which resulted in the recruitment of 681 WTE nurses between June and September.
BARNEY NEWMAN
By Jennifer Sprinks
Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust chief nurse Eileen Sills with one of the trust’s patient boards
As part of the government’s response to the Francis report into care failings at Stafford Hospital, health secretary Jeremy Hunt announced plans to place nurse and consultant names above patient beds to ensure ‘everyone knows where the buck stops’. However, instead of placing the names above the bed, Ms Sills is introducing boards that display information including the name of the nurse and consultant looking after the patient. ‘Most patients cannot see above their bed – this board is
something they can see at any time,’ said Ms Sills. ‘The risk of putting the name above the bed is that it might not get changed regularly.’ Last month, the trust introduced green stickers containing a tick list of basic areas of care and hygiene. Nursing staff put them in patients’ records every day to show that they have covered all aspects of fundamental care. ‘Unless we have a record, we have no evidence that fundamental care has been given,’ she said.
AGEING WORKFORCE POSES SERIOUS PROBLEM FOR NHS A third of nursing staff in Scotland are now aged 50 or over, prompting concerns that numbers could plummet as thousands of nurses retire. Figures published by the Information Services Division Scotland (ISD) show that 23,393 nursing and midwifery staff were in their fi fties or older in 2013. This was up from 20,174 in 2010. The government said it has been tackling the ageing workforce issue by boosting nurse numbers by 1,000 in the past year. It also increased training
NURSING STANDARD
places from 2,430 in 2012/13 to 2,530 in 2013/14. Nursing commissions for 2014/15 are due to be announced shortly. But the ISD fi gures show a more immediate shortage, with 2,713 new entrants to the workforce in 2013, down from 3,060 in 2010. RCN Scotland director Theresa Fyffe said the government has ‘no obvious plan’ for replacing nurses nearing retirement. ‘We have been raising these concerns for some time. We need less short-termism and better long-term workforce and
budget planning by government, to avoid such problems in the future.’ Raising the retirement age, to 66 in 2020, 67 in 2036 and 68 in 2046, is also causing concern. The RCN’s 2013 employment survey for Scotland revealed 83 per cent of respondents did not feel they could carry on working until 68. Ms Fyffe added that the demands of the profession raised serious questions about increasing the retirement age for healthcare workers. See analysis page 14 january 8 :: vol 28 no 19 :: 2014 9
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Skill mix, not numbers, is the most important issue, says chief nurse Displaying staffing levels at ward entrances would not improve care and could heighten patient anxiety, says the chief nurse at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust in London. Eileen Sills told Nursing Standard that Guy’s and St Thomas’ will not follow other NHS trusts, including Salford Royal and Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh, which have boards on wards listing how many staff are on shift and how many there should be. She said there is a danger patients could think wards are short staffed when the skill mix matches patient acuity. ‘Staffing numbers is just a tiny bit of the picture. I am more interested in the skills of the staff on duty,’ she said. Ms Sills added that she welcomed the government’s announcement that hospitals will publish staffing levels for all wards on a monthly basis from April. Guy’s and St Thomas’ has more than 1,000 beds and employs 3,465 whole-time equivalent (WTE) nurses. Last April, it published a report on staffing levels for the trust board, which resulted in the recruitment of 681 WTE nurses between June and September.
BARNEY NEWMAN
By Jennifer Sprinks
Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust chief nurse Eileen Sills with one of the trust’s patient boards
As part of the government’s response to the Francis report into care failings at Stafford Hospital, health secretary Jeremy Hunt announced plans to place nurse and consultant names above patient beds to ensure ‘everyone knows where the buck stops’. However, instead of placing the names above the bed, Ms Sills is introducing boards that display information including the name of the nurse and consultant looking after the patient. ‘Most patients cannot see above their bed – this board is
something they can see at any time,’ said Ms Sills. ‘The risk of putting the name above the bed is that it might not get changed regularly.’ Last month, the trust introduced green stickers containing a tick list of basic areas of care and hygiene. Nursing staff put them in patients’ records every day to show that they have covered all aspects of fundamental care. ‘Unless we have a record, we have no evidence that fundamental care has been given,’ she said.
AGEING WORKFORCE POSES SERIOUS PROBLEM FOR NHS A third of nursing staff in Scotland are now aged 50 or over, prompting concerns that numbers could plummet as thousands of nurses retire. Figures published by the Information Services Division Scotland (ISD) show that 23,393 nursing and midwifery staff were in their fi fties or older in 2013. This was up from 20,174 in 2010. The government said it has been tackling the ageing workforce issue by boosting nurse numbers by 1,000 in the past year. It also increased training
NURSING STANDARD
places from 2,430 in 2012/13 to 2,530 in 2013/14. Nursing commissions for 2014/15 are due to be announced shortly. But the ISD fi gures show a more immediate shortage, with 2,713 new entrants to the workforce in 2013, down from 3,060 in 2010. RCN Scotland director Theresa Fyffe said the government has ‘no obvious plan’ for replacing nurses nearing retirement. ‘We have been raising these concerns for some time. We need less short-termism and better long-term workforce and
budget planning by government, to avoid such problems in the future.’ Raising the retirement age, to 66 in 2020, 67 in 2036 and 68 in 2046, is also causing concern. The RCN’s 2013 employment survey for Scotland revealed 83 per cent of respondents did not feel they could carry on working until 68. Ms Fyffe added that the demands of the profession raised serious questions about increasing the retirement age for healthcare workers. See analysis page 14 january 8 :: vol 28 no 19 :: 2014 9
Downloaded from RCNi.com by ${individualUser.displayName} on Nov 19, 2015. For personal use only. No other uses without permission. Copyright © 2015 RCNi Ltd. All rights reserved.
