WIREDGOV

The Minister said the additional funding would allow the NHS in Wales to recruit the medical and surgical ward nurses needed for the future.

The announcement was made during a debate in the National Assembly for Wales on the Welsh Government’s response to the Francis report on the Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust.

Mark Drakeford said:

“Safe and compassionate care clearly can’t be produced simply by systems and measurements. It depends, fundamentally, on people.

“Staff are the greatest resource of the NHS and the staffing we need for the future has to match changing patterns of need. Our hospital in-patient population now consists predominantly of older people, often with a complex mixture of social and clinical conditions.

“The Chief Nursing Officer is leading work to introduce a new way of determining the number of nurses needed on any ward, to meet those needs. Work so far has concentrated on acute medical and surgical wards. It shows that we need more nurses and healthcare support workers, in order to reach the staffing levels we will need in future.

“I recognise that meeting these new requirements of the post-Francis world comes at a cost. I am therefore very pleased to announce today that an additional £10 million will be provided in the current financial year, to allow Health Boards to accelerate their plans to secure acute medical and surgical ward nurses.”

The funding announced yesterday will be recurrent. It is expected to fund in the region of 290 posts.