Health Secretary Shona Robison met staff and patients in Ward B32 when she visited Forth Valley Royal Hospital to launch a national consultation on staffing levels.
NHS Forth Valley has been a leader in using and testing the national workforce tools and the Cabinet Secretary said there was a clear link between effective and sustainable staffing levels and high quality care. She added: “Scotland has led the UK in the development and use of a groundbreaking evidence-based approach to nursing and midwifery workload and workforce planning. Now we intend to build on our record to date and go further still.”
NHS Forth Valley’s Director of Nursing, Professor Angela Wallace, said: “We have been using the national workforce planning tools in Forth Valley for many years and have also supported their ongoing development through local testing. These important tools form a core part of our wider care assurance system to ensure we have the right number and skill mix of nursing and midwifery staff in all of our inpatient wards.
“They have also helped drive forward improvements in the safety and quality of care we provide for patients and their families by helping us to identify and respond to areas where additional resources are required to meet the needs of patients.”
