RCN Wales Director Helen Whyley and RCN Wales Board Chair Jackie Davies gave evidence to the committee on 19 October on the positive impact that appropriate staffing levels have on patient outcomes.
Having the right number of nursing staff, with the right skill mix, in the right setting enables the highest level of patient care to be delivered at a sustainable rate that also protects the wellbeing of nursing staff.
The Nurse Staffing Levels (Wales) Act 2016 is a key campaign for RCN Wales, one which our members have been at the forefront in securing improvements. This includes an extension of a section of the act relating to staffing level calculation to paediatric inpatients in April 2021.
More recently, RCN Wales led a petition to further extend the act to community and mental health inpatients settings that received over 10,500 signatures, reaching the legal threshold to be debated in the Senedd.
This Welsh government inquiry comes at a crucial moment, as no progress on increased legislation has taken place since the debate that took place in September 2022. RCN Wales is calling on Welsh government to take action on extending section 25B further so more patients and wards can benefit.
Some of the key evidence put forward includes:
- improved accountability of health boards to ensure that safe staffing targets are met
- improved transparency on reporting of staffing levels
- increased education commissioning for the future workforce
- strengthened voice of nursing: incorporating nursing staff’s clinical judgment into planning.
RCN Wales Director Helen Whyley said:
“We are pleased that the Health and Social Care Committee is holding this important inquiry. It has now been two years since progress has been made in the extension of this legislation and we urge that this is prioritised going forward to address the ongoing staffing crisis in Wales.
“What the act has done is to allow a better understanding of how many nurses are needed to achieve the best standard of patient care. This information is essential to inform both health boards’ workforce plans, and education planning for the next generation of nurses.
“We are calling for Section 25B of the Act to be extended further so more patients are protected by this law. More than 10,500 people signed our petition last year asking the Welsh government to do just that, which shows the vast engagement from both the public and NHS staff on the importance of this legislation.”
RCN Wales Board Chair Jackie Davies said:
“Nursing is the largest safety-critical profession in the NHS, representing over 40% of the entire NHS workforce.
“The research is clear: there is a direct link between nurse staffing levels and patient safety. Legislating on safety-critical roles needs to be a standard process in healthcare as in any other industry.
“The Nurse Staffing Levels (Wales) Act 2016, and particularly Section 25B, protects not only patients, but professionals. Every patient should be safe in the knowledge that there will be enough nursing staff to keep them safe and nursing staff ensured that their wellbeing is considered paramount.”
Workforce planning is also a key element of the Welsh government’s latest NHS pay offer on non-pay elements accepted by members in August 2023. This legislation will only strengthen Welsh government’s ability to effectively plan for the needs of the people of Wales. RCN Wales is working in partnership to ensure the offer elements are implemented as soon as possible.
