Responsibilities of hospital senior managers
The hospital board and senior managers are responsible for having a plan in place to make sure patients have the nursing care they need even at the busiest times of day. The plan should cover dealing with problems such as when members of staff are unwell and away from work or when there are more patients than usual on the ward who are very ill.
Hospitals should have a clear procedure for taking action if there are not enough nursing staff on a ward to provide the care patients need.