Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether NHS England has the resources to produce independent guidance on safe nurse staffing levels.

In my oral answer to the Noble Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 13 July 2015, Official Report, column 345, I said that “the Government are committed to supporting NHS trusts to put in place sustained safe staffing by using their resources as effectively as possible for patients. The existing National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance on maternity settings and acute in-patient wards will continue to be used by NHS trusts. NHS England, working with NICE and other national organisations, will continue with this work in other areas of care and other healthcare professional groups”.

Subsequently, the Secretary of State announced that the responsibility for safe staffing will be taken forward by Dr Mike Durkin as part of the decision to transfer the national functions for safety to NHS Improvement. Dr Durkin will work with the Chief Nursing Officer to complete the work started by NICE on safe staffing levels. This work will be reviewed independently by NICE, the Chief Inspector of hospitals, and Sir Robert Francis to ensure it meets the high standards of care the NHS aspires to.

Future plans for safe staffing work will be developed in due course.

Ministers and officials in the Department hold regular discussions with colleagues from Monitor, NHS England and NICE on a range of issues including safe staffing. We have no plans to publish details of these meetings or correspondence between these organisations on this issue.