NEARLY 80 new nurses have been recruited by South Warwickshire Foundation Trust (SWFT) in the past month to improve patient care.
The hospital and community nurses – who will cost the trust around an extra £2million annually – have been employed in response to a government report into patient safety.
They take the number of nurses across SWFT’s Leamington, Warwick, Stratford and Shipston sites, along with community nurses, up to 1,489.
A trust spokeswoman said: “The number of recruited nurses are part of the trust’s response to the Keogh and Francis reports recommendations relating to staffing levels, as well as replacing leavers.”
The Francis inquiry was held after care scandal at Mid Staffordshire Hospitals NHS Trust. In response to the inquiry a government review into patient safety was held by Sir Bruce Keogh.
The outcome listed a number of improvements needed across the country, including greater support for nurses.
As a response SWFT held its own review into nursing levels across hospital wards.
It found some wards were operating below the nationally recommended staffing levels of one nurse to eight patients.
The review also found poorly staffed wards impacted on staff morale, turnover, burnout and reduction in staff wellbeing – directly affecting patient care.
Last month there were 90 incidents where SWFT inpatient wards were staffed below the national recommendation, with one nurse being expected to care for nine or ten patients instead of eight.
SWFT hope the extra staff – who are expected to start in the next few months – will address the problem and improve patient care across the trust.
