STAFFING levels at Croydon University Hospital are meeting – and in some cases exceeding – targets, new figures have shown.
The London Road hospital has long had problems with staff shortages, leading to questions about quality of care and an over-reliance on expensive agency staff.
Last year Croydon Health Services, the trust that runs the hospital, decided to accrue a deficit of £6.8 million to fund a recruitment drive to bring in more staff.
Data on the NHS Choices website, published monthly, shows the hospital is now meeting targets for nurses and midwives. It is the first time "safe staffing" information has been published for the hospital and others across the country.
Fill rates (how many staff were on duty) at Croydon's wards ranged from 91 per cent to 127 per cent.
Zoe Packman, director of nursing and midwifery at CHS, said: "Our figures in May show that we had good staffing levels, without any ward having significant gaps in the staffing levels planned and how many staff were on duty.
"In many cases our 'fill' rates actually exceeded what was planned and were over 100 per cent. This is because we have a very clear system in place, with nursing and midwifery clinical leaders across the trust visiting wards at least daily."
She added: "If our patients are very sick or highly dependent, this ultimately affects the care they need and we will increase staffing to make sure we have the right skills in place to deliver one-to-one support."
Staffing levels are now displayed on information boards placed in prominent positions throughout the hospital.
Publishing ward staffing levels was part of the government response to the public inquiry into the failings at Mid Staffordshire Hospital.
