Mental Health Staffing Framework

"Mental Health Staffing: A Practical Guide has been developed as part of the ‘Compassion in Practice programme’ led by NHS England. It is based around standards set by the National Quality Board and is expected to inform national Mental Health programmes of work "

Mental Health Staffing Framework
Health Education West Midlands
NHS England
June 2015

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Nurse-reported hospital characteristics and estimated 30-day survival probabilities

"Perceived staffing adequacy, but not nurse-patient ratio was associated with overall survival. This result suggests that the way resources are organised is a critical factor to achieve the goal of quality and safety. Furthermore, nurses’ assessments of quality of nursing were correlated with overall survival and survival"
An observational study: associations between nurse-reported hospital characteristics and estimated 30-day survival probabilities
C Tvedt, IS Sjetne, J Helgeland, G Bukholm
BMJ Quality and Safety, 2014; 23: 757–764.

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A guide to nursing, midwifery and care staffing capacity and capability

"Nursing, midwifery and care staff, working as part of wider multidisciplinary teams, play a critical role in securing high quality care and excellent outcomes for patients. There are established and evidenced links between patient outcomes and whether organisations have the right people, with the right skills, in the right place at the right time." 

How to ensure the right people, with the right skills, are in the right place at the right time: A guide to nursing, midwifery and care staffing capacity and capability
NHS England
November 2013

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NHS safe staffing: not just a number

"The greatest running cost of the NHS is its workforce. The authors show how this aspect of the NHS can too easily be neglected in the policy process, or discussed only in the context of concerns for costs of the NHS payroll...We try to identify some of the potential clinical and financial benefits from more robust workforce data, and the barriers that limit progress towards the adoption of digital technology for the closely linked tasks of rostering, payment, and quality assurance."

NHS safe staffing: not just a number
Tony Hockley, Sean Boyle
London School of Economics and Political Science
January 2014

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Nurse staffing ratios and hospital readmission

"Children with common conditions treated in hospitals in which nurses care for fewer patients each are significantly less likely to experience readmission between 15 and 30 days after discharge."

An observational study of nurse staffing ratios and hospital readmission among children admitted for common conditions
HL Tubbs-Cooley, JP Cimiotti, JH Silber, DM Sloane, LH Aiken
BMJ Quality and Safety, 2013, 22:735-742

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