AN MP HAS welcomed the news that the trust that runs Morecambe Bay's hospitals will release staffing level information.

Tim Farron, for South Lakes, spoke out after the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Trust revealed it will start publishing staffing levels on hospital wards from April.

It is ‘another welcome step in restoring public confidence’, he said.

It comes after he called for the hospital trusts to publish the information monthly.

This, he said, followed Care Quality Commission reports that concluded insufficient staffing levels in the medical unit at Royal Lancaster Infirmary could have put patients at risk.

Now patients will be able to see the numbers on a new national safety website.

There will be no national minimum staffing standard, but it is likely to include recommended nurse-to-patient ratios for different types of ward.

The news was announced in the trust’s first 'Friday message' to staff from Chief Executive Jackie Daniel.

"Staffing levels are not the be all and end all, but they are an indicator of the quality of care available," said Mr Farron.

"The staff that work in our hospitals are amazing and deserve to be praised to the hilt. I hope that these figures will allow the public to see what is happening on the ward.

"The new hospitals trust management is starting to really turn our trust around and I hope that when these figures are published that will be yet another indicator of their progress."