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- 30 March 2026 Create Date
- 30 March 2026 Last Updated
NHS Lanarkshire has continued to strengthen its approach to safe and effective staffing in line with the Health and Care (Staffing) (Scotland) Act 2019. Real-time staffing assessment, professional judgement, and national staffing level tools have been used to identify workforce pressures, inform establishment setting, and shape future workforce plans. This approach has enhanced governance, transparency, and clinical oversight of staffing decisions.
The organisation has embedded robust processes for risk escalation, clinical advice-seeking, and the management of severe and recurrent risks, contributing to improvements in safe, person-centred care. Transition to the national Safecare system has supported more consistent reporting, though duplicative systems and data quality challenges remain areas for improvement.
Overall, the organisation demonstrates Reasonable Assurance across its duties, with Substantial Assurance in clinical advice-seeking and managing severe and recurrent risks. Key challenges include workforce vacancies, sickness absence levels, and achieving full compliance with the Common Staffing Method. Ongoing improvement actions focus on enhancing data quality, supporting staff during system transitions, and further embedding safe-staffing principles across both internal services and commissioned providers.
The report below is to allow the general public to view and monitor progress of the Act's implementation and progress.
