Staff shortages within Nottinghamshire Healthcare Foundation Trust mean that live-in patients at mental health units have trips out cancelled on a daily basis, a patient has said.
Corey, who lives at Arnold Lodge – in Leicester but run by the Nottingham-based authority – made the statement during a “patient story” segment of a trust board meeting on Thursday, September 25.
He said: “Staff shortages are a pressing issue. It is having a direct impact on patients’ care. In my ward, patients’ care is cancelled daily due to staff shortages. Structured day activities are disturbed and quality of care suffers. This is not just frustrating, it is disheartening.”
The comments came before a discussion by board members about staff numbers. Statistics show that across the trust, an average of 32% of staff members on a weekly basis are temporary employees, compared to 68% who are permanent.
In July, sickness absence among staff at the trust was 6.88% – much higher than the expected 4% in summer months. A report said this metric is “one we must urgently improve as an improvement within this metric would reduce the trust’s reliance on temporary staffing cover”.
Non-executive director Nigel Smith said there were some “worrying figures” in the performance report.
Director of people and culture Jen Guiver said the board would take Corey’s comments away and “do some work to understand exactly what’s driving that”.
Addressing Corey directly, Chief Nurse Dianne Hull said: “I’m sorry because I know it does impact on people. We still need to recruit some healthcare support workers. We’ve got to get it right, and what I would ask from you is to keep on challenging us.
“I know that the right staff – not just the numbers but people with the right values and everything – have a direct impact on you and your colleagues.”
Corey also said improvements needed to be made regarding digital access for patients. Currently, Arnold Lodge residents are only allowed access to the internet for 30 minutes per week to do shopping.
While he raised concerns, he also praised the trust, saying that Arnold Lodge was the first place at which he had the chance to “understand my mental health” and start a “journey to recovery with the right help, support and medication”.
He said: “This gives me hope for a brighter future. At Arnold Lodge I started building good therapeutical rapports with staff. I’m very pleased with how my progress is going on.”
He also gave credit to the improvement in how the trust listens to patients’ voices through the appointment of Patient Involvement Support Workers.
He said: “I can proudly say that (old policies) have changed. Now patients’ voices are not just acknowledged, they are celebrated. It is at the heart of everything that the hospital does.
“Patients are no longer just participants. Our concerns are not just noted, they are addressed, and our feedback is not just collected, it is acted upon.”
• Road closure ‘confusion’ ahead of Europa League match at City Ground
• Updates: A1 at Newark closed southbound for recovery after earlier collision