Chief Inspector of Hospitals comments on staffing guidance

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has published Guidance for hospitals that ensure there are sufficient numbers of staff present to provide safe care.

Commenting on the NICE guidelines, Professor Sir Mike Richards, Chief Inspector of Hospitals at the Care Quality Commission, said: "We support the principle that staffing on hospital wards should be based on the needs of patients, and welcome NICE’s guidance.

"Staffing isn’t just about numbers. Under our new approach to hospital inspections, we assess whether staffing levels and the skills and training of staff are appropriate in each of the services we inspect.

"We know that staffing levels impact both on safety and on patients’ experience of care. If we judge that staffing levels are impacting adversely on the quality of care, we expect to see improvements."

Read the announcement in full on the NICE website.