26 January 2007
The NHS has made progress towards improving the planning and management of ward nursing, Audit Scotland has found.
In a report this week, the watchdog said the Scottish Executive Health Department and NHS boards were addressing many of the concerns raised in its 2002 report, which had called for better workforce planning.
However, it urges a regular review of the combined use of bank and agency nurses. While the use of agency nurses across Scotland reduced by 17% between 2001/02 and 2005/06, the combined use of bank and agency nurses increased by 43%.
Bank nurses are NHS employees contracted to work when required, often at short notice. In 2005/06, bank and agency nurses cost £96m — about 5.5% of the nursing budget.
'This trend should be regularly reviewed to ensure that bank nurses are not used as a substitute for effective workforce planning and that the quality of nursing care provided by bank staff is maintained,' the report said.
Auditor general Bob Black added: 'The NHS now needs to build on progress made and ensure it has the information needed to manage the workforce well.'
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