Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what research his Department has commissioned on the effect that publishing safe staffing data has on patient choice.

The Department has not commissioned any research on the effect that publishing safe staffing data has on patient choice.

Sir Robert Francis QC’s report into the failings at Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust recommendations led to fundamental changes in the health and care system supporting a culture of transparency and openness. The Inquiry showed that transparency is an important driver of more efficient, higher-quality services. It empowers patients by making available information to patients and the public and improves outcomes for all.

NHS Choices has introduced My NHS which incorporates patient safety indicators. The data on My NHS includes mandatory reporting of monthly actual and planned staffing levels by hospital wards.