Nurses fear elderly patients in Scotland’s flagship hospital are at risk because of staff shortages.
The Langlands Unit, at Glasgow’s Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, cares for many who are frail or have dementia. But health workers claim there are not enough staff to give patients the care they need.
One nurse said: “There should be three nurses on shift for a ward with 30 patients so a nurse is in charge of approximately 10 patients. But each qualified nurse has 15 patients to look after.
“It is quite an onerous workload to say the least. We care for elderly, frail, confused patients and those with reduced mobility who are prone to accidents.
"There aren’t enough of us to provide the standard of care they deserve.”
If wards are understaffed it should be recorded in the Datix – a system for reporting any unintended or unexpected incident which could have, or did, lead to harm for patients receiving healthcare.
But the nurse said: “Every time I raise it with whoever is in charge, I’m told there is no point because nothing is ever done – and when we ask for more staff we’re told there are none available.
“But if a patient falls, it will be us they come looking for. We’ll be asked why the patient wasn’t supervised.
“If it was at least recorded in the Datix it would help show the difficulties we are working under.”
Agency and bank nurses are already refusing to take shifts in the unit.
One agency worker said: “Before Covid, staff were doing extra shifts to help out as they knew wards were shorthanded but they are not doing that now. They don’t want to put themselves under any more stress than they have to.”
Greater Glasgow & Clyde Health Board insisted: “Patient safety is our No1 priority. Safe staffing levels are central to that and these are rigorously monitored throughout each day. We appreciate staff continue to work hard to provide the best care possible for patients, in what continues to be challenging circumstances.
“Current staffing levels have been affected by a number of factors including vacancies, staff absence, including staff having appropriate rest and Covid-related isolation.
“Our Datix incident reporting system is accessible to all staff. We continue to encourage staff to report any incidents on this system so that they can be reviewed and resolved.”
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