Kirsty Williams’ bill to ensure safe staffing levels for nurses takes a step closer to becoming law

Kirsty Williams’ bill to ensure that nursing levels in Welsh hospitals are put on a  safer, statutory footing has passed another parliamentary hurdle, as Wales Online reports:

A proposed law to introduce a legal minimum staffing level for nurses has overcome another hurdle after Assembly committee members passed amendments to the Bill.

The Nurse Staffing Levels (Wales) Bill, proposed by Welsh Liberal Democrat leader Kirsty Williams, would see an independent assessment for appropriate staffing levels in Welsh hospitals.

The proposal would see Wales become the first country in the UK with a legal duty on safe nurse staffing levels.

The Assembly’s Health and Social Services Committee voted to support Phase 2 of the Bill which will now move to Phase 3.

The Bill has the backing of the Royal College of Nursing in Wales.

The Minister insisted on the removal of the word “safe” from the title of the Bill, which has disappointed Kirsty, but she is pleased that it has passed another stage:

This has been a long journey, but we are a step closer towards safe staffing levels in all of our hospitals a step closer.

The premise of my More Nurses Bill is very simple: nurses who have fewer patients to care for, can spend more time with each patient.

As a result, they can provide better, safer care.

Nurses in Wales have to care for more patients per head than any other part of the UK. We simply can’t allow this situation to continue, which is why I hope all parties will back our significant and positive change today.

I’m disappointed the Minister has removed the word ‘safe’ from the bill.

While this won’t directly affect the outcomes of the bill, the removal of the word is a missed opportunity to symbolically say what the intentions of the bill are.

 

 

 

Read more by or more about , or .
This entry was posted in News.
Advert

One Comment

  • I had had considerable experience of the minimum staffing level concept. It is a real bind for any organisation and simply increases costs because operating on the level means anyone goes off and you have chaos. As for negotiating the level, that is a pain in itself and is a constant source of aggravation.
    What does the private sector do? What does the Canadian and Australian systems do.

Post a Comment

Lib Dem Voice welcomes comments from everyone but we ask you to be polite, to be on topic and to be who you say you are. You can read our comments policy in full here. Please respect it and all readers of the site.

To have your photo next to your comment please signup your email address with Gravatar.

Your email is never published. Required fields are marked *

*
*
Please complete the name of this site, Liberal Democrat ...?

Advert

Recent Comments

  • Andy Daer
    Currently, Iran hates America because America hates Iran, and America hates Iran because Iran hates America. In one of the Mullah Nasruddin fables, Nasruddin...
  • Andy Daer
    @John Waller, we don't actually know what that the last thing Netanyahu wants is. If he brings about regime change, that would be good for the Iranian people, a...
  • Simon R
    Realistically we do have a problem that people are going to University to study certain subjects in far greater numbers than demand exists for jobs that require...
  • John Waller
    Andy you say: ‘Netanyahu becoming more powerful is troubling, but for me the most disturbing thing today was hearing that Netanyahu claims to be acting solely...
  • Geoffrey Payne
    I have not seen any comments from the Parliamentary party about their opinion about what is going on here. The government of Israel has become a regional supe...