HAMPSHIRE Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is continuing to struggle to hit nursing staffing targets.

In October, the trust failed to meet staffing level targets in the medical division, which includes the emergency department, as well as elderly care and the medical assessment unit.

The trust, which runs Basingstoke, Winchester and Andover hospitals, had 68 fewer nurses on its medical wards than the acuity requirement – the ideal number of nurses, which is calculated using a complex formula.

The optimum number of nurses is calculated by looking at factors including patient need such as whether they can feed themselves or whether they require medication.

In October, the acuity requirement in the medical division was around 490 nurses, but only around 422 actually worked.

Across the rest of the hospital, the hospital fared better in hitting staffing targets.

In family and clinical support services, the target was exceeded by nearly eight nurses, and in surgery, the target was met.

Overall, the hospital was short by an average of 60 nurses across all divisions in the month of October.

Associate nursing directorEdmund Cartwright told a board of directors meeting that although staffing levels remain a challenge, a number of new nurses have been recruited.

In October, the trust employed nearly 60 new starter nurses, midwives and healthcare assistants, although more than 20 nurses, midwives, healthcare assistants and nurses also left the trust.

Throughout the month, agency staff were also brought in to support HHFT employees.

Mr Cartwright said: “We want to do some work around the staffing levels during the night time.

“There is no national staffing recommendation for night-time shifts, but a review has identified that night-time shifts currently have the lowest staffing levels of the shifts. This is something that we want to look at.”

He told the board there were no incidents reporting harm as a result of the levels of staffing.

However, there were five forms filled out by patients in the maternity unit in September, expressing concerns over delays in providing care.

The meeting heard that staffing and recruitment problems in nursing are being faced by trusts across the country.