ACTIONS to tackle nursing and midwifery staff shortages at East Lancashire Hospitals Trust facilities have been laid out.

Over the course of May, five areas had less than 80 per cent of nurse day shifts filled, while the family care division one area also had fewer than 80 per cent of shifts for midwives on night duty filled.

Pressures in the emergency department, school holidays, unfilled vacancies and sickness were all cited as reasons for the staffing crisis.

One occasion saw just two registered nurses on duty on a night shift, with a period of half an hour where there was only one nurse available.

And the surgical triage unit at Royal Blackburn Hospital usually has three nurses on night duty but due to short term sickness only had two.

ELHT performance against the four hour emergency department wait standard improved to 85 per cent in May but still falls short of the 95 per cent target.

The trust now holds a safe staffing conference at 10am followed up with meetings throughout the day where required, with contingency plans in place for weekends and out of hours cover.

Recruitment is ongoing and the trust's recruitment and retention group has been reformed, in addition to agreeing to recruit an extra 20 trainee nursing associates.

And staffing templates will change to reflect the roll out of 12-hour shift patterns.

Meanwhile, ELHT performance against the four hour emergency department wait standard improved to 85 per cent in May but still falls short of the 95 per cent target.

In total, 20,591 people sought treatment at Royal Blackburn Hospital's emergency department in May and of these, 17,738 were treated and left the department within four hours.

Over the course of the month, there were three reported breaches of the 12-hour trolley wait standard, all relating to mental health issues.

And the number of handovers from ambulance to hospital staff increased to 685 for May compared to 652 for April, though the average handover time decreased slightly.

A report to be presented to the trust's board states: "Legislation changed in December in relation section 136 patients which has resulted in the criteria changing in relation to the length of time a patient can be held and also definitions of place of safety.

"This has resulted in a significantly increased number of patients who attend under a section 136 and breach 12 hours decision to admit.

"All three [12-hour breaches] were mental health-related.

"Rapid review timelines are completed in accordance with the NHS England framework and a root cause analysis will be undertaken."

An update on the statistics will be given when the ELHT board meets at Royal Blackburn Teaching Hospital today.