Nurse shortages at trust highlighted in 25 incident reports

Five wards had deficits of more than 10 per cent of staffing hours in the third quarter of 2014-15, leading to the opening of unfunded beds.

The shortages were down to staff vacancies, sickness and increased activity, trust board papers said.

A report on the nursing workforce by nursing director Richard Parker and head of workforce design Lib Jones said: “During January matrons were concerned that despite the implementation of escalation plans the acuity and dependency created by additional capacity was greater than the available staffing on a number of shifts.

“This is highlighted by incident reporting during January. Across the organisation ward nurse staffing levels were recorded in 25 incident reports, of which all reported no harm. All incident reports are being investigated by the head of nursing and matrons to ensure that all possible actions had been taken and any learning points have been identified.”