Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the (a) staff to patient ratio and (b) nurse to bed ratio is in all hospitals serving Wakefield.

The Department does not collect the information requested. The following table however shows the number of National Health Service staff in the Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust on 31 March 2014.

Local NHS trusts decide how many staff they employ, and make these decisions based on the needs of their patients and local communities.

While the right staffing levels are vital for good patient care, minimum staffing numbers and ratios cannot take account of local circumstances, skill mix or case mix.

NHS hospital and community health services provisional monthly statistics: NHS staff in the Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust by main staff group as at 31 March 2014

Notes:

1. Full time equivalent figures are rounded to the nearest whole number.

2. These statistics relate to the contracted positions within English NHS organisations and may include those where the person assigned to the position is temporarily absent, for example on maternity leave.

3. Data Quality:

The Health and Social Care Information Centre seeks to minimise inaccuracies and the effect of missing and invalid data but responsibility for data accuracy lies with the organisations providing the data. Methods are continually being updated to improve data quality where changes impact on figures already published. This is assessed but unless it is significant at national level figures are not changed. Impact at detailed or local level is footnoted in relevant analyses.

4. Monthly data:

As from 21st July 2010 the Health and Social Care Information Centre has published provisional monthly NHS workforce data. As expected with provisional statistics, some figures may be revised from month to month as issues are uncovered and resolved. The monthly workforce data is not directly comparable with the annual workforce census; it only includes those staff on the Electronic Staff Record (ESR) (i.e. it does not include Primary care staff or Bank staff). There are also new methods of presenting data (headcount methodology is different and there is now a role count). This information is available from September 2009 onwards at the following website: www.hscic.gov.uk

Source:

Health and Social Care Information Centre Provisional Monthly Workforce Statistics