Secured by RCN Members in Wales and the first of its kind in Europe, the pioneering Nurse Staffing Levels (Wales) Act 2016 protects patients and professionals alike from the risks posed by shortages of nursing staff. Research shows that shortages of nurses can increase patient mortality by up to 26%.
Wards covered by Section 25B of the Act are required to calculate a safe level of nursing staff to care for patients, try to keep staffing at that level, and report publicly on whether they do. RCN Wales successfully campaigned for the extension of Section 25B to paediatric inpatient wards in 2021.
The Health and Social Care Committee is now looking at the Act’s impact and its future.
Helen Whyley, RCN Wales Director, 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.”
Jackie Davies, RCN Wales Board Chair, said:
“Nursing is the largest safety-critical profession in health care, 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 it is in other industries
“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.”
ENDS
Notes to Editors
The Act added the following sections to the NHS (Wales) Act 2006:
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25A: An overarching duty on local health boards and NHS trusts to have regard to the importance of providing sufficient nurses in all settings. This also applies where health boards are commissioning services from a third party. This duty came into force in April 2017.
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25B: A duty to calculate and maintain nurse staffing levels in specified settings (the ‘nurse staffing level’ is defined as “the number of nurses appropriate to provide care to patients that meets all reasonable requirements in that situation”). For adult acute medical and surgical wards, this came into force in April 2018. From October 2021, it has also applied to paediatric inpatient wards. This section also makes provision for extending the duty to further settings.
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25C: Sets out the method of calculation for nurse staffing levels.
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25D: Requires the Welsh Government to issue statutory guidance to health boards/trusts about their duties under 25B and 25C.
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25E: Health boards (and trusts where applicable) are required to report to Welsh Government on their compliance with section 25B after a three-year period. The Welsh Government must subsequently publish a summary report. The first of these summary reports, for the period April 2018-April 2021, was published in December 2021.
