Kirsty Williams' More Nurses Bill - good news for the NHS in Wales

Kirsty's More Nurses Bill

I remember a nurse telling me in Bronglais Hospital, Aberystwyth that she questioned at the beginning of a shift whether her nursing registration would be intact at the end of it. That's too much pressure for both the nurse and patient to bear.

 

Kirsty Williams' More Nurses Bill was borne out of something very simple, a conversation with a nurse, which became a conversation with many nurses. She listened to what they had to say and acted upon it, showing that with conviction, politicians like Kirsty Williams and the Welsh Liberal Democrats can make a real difference to people's lives and change the way we do things for the better.

 

Well, yesterday Kirsty Williams and our Welsh Lib Dem Assembly Members delivered a  safe nurse staffing level for Wales, making us the first country in Europe to introduce safe staffing levels into legislation, when the National Assembly voted in favour of Kirsty Williams’ ‘More Nurses’ Bill.

 

People may ask how will the NHS fund this change, well they can't really afford not to. Safe levels of nurses on our wards could also mean less compensation payouts; fewer nurses losing their registration because a Manager thought they'd wing it with their staffing levels, who themselves are under pressure.

 

There needs to be less millions spent on bank nurses and more investment in the nurses who work the wards day in day out, night after night. There is a place for bank nurses but health boards have become too reliant on them and that now needs to change.  The days of the NHS risking a nurses registration because of unsafe staffing levels on a hospital ward are behind us thanks to Kirsty Williams and all the nurses who spoke to her and told their story.

 http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/wales-set-become-first-nation-10873005