Our pledge on safety | Bristol NHS Foundation Trust

Our pledge on safety

Patient safety is central to everything we do. We are committed to listening, learning and improving so patients receive safe, high-quality care.

We will:

  • listen to patients, families, carers, and staff
  • learn from incidents and concerns
  • support openness and transparency
  • act on feedback
  • work to reduce avoidable harm

Safe staffing levels

All hospitals are required to report and publish the numbers of nurses, midwives, and care staff working on patient wards.

We present this information in two ways:

  • displaying daily information on boards for patients and visitors inside every ward about the number of nurses, midwives, and care staff present and planned on each shift
  • information about staffing levels will be published monthly on our website and on NHS. Full details will also be reported to public meetings of our board of directors

If you have any questions about staffing levels in our hospitals, our staff will be pleased to help, or you can contact Group Chief Nursing and Improvement Officer, Professor Steve Hams.

Safeguarding

The trust is committed to ensuring that all of our patients and their families are cared for in a safe, secure, and caring environment. The protection of vulnerable children and adults at risk from abuse and neglect is embedded within all services provided by the trust across all hospital sites.

A number of safeguarding vulnerable people arrangements are in place, in line with legislation, best practice, and local commissioning arrangements.

Freedom to Speak Up

Every NHS trust must have a Freedom to Speak Up (FTSU) Guardian to give independent support and advice to staff (including volunteers, agency staff, contractors, and students) who want to raise concerns. They help to create a more open and transparent place which encourages 'speaking up' safely.

Speaking up is about raising any work-based concerns that get in the way of providing safe, high-quality patient care. It can cover a wide range of issues including patient safety, staff safety, inclusion, and wellbeing.

Ensuring that staff feel free to speak up about any concern at work is vital to improving services for all patients, and the working environment.

Staff can contact a FTSU Guardian in confidence:

Alternatively, contact any one of the FTSU champions located across Bristol NHS Foundation Trust; contact details for the champions are available on the staff intranet(s).

Page last reviewed: 20 May 2026

Next review due: 20 May 2027