Setting staffing levels: what to consider

摘要

Last month the health press had headlines such as:'RCN chief says new role risks devaluing nursing', 'NHS Improvement's chief nurse pledges intervention "to back nursing directors on staffing levels", 'CNO pledges to intervene in skill mix disputes', 'England's senior nurses back regulation of nursing associates', 'Patient deaths rise by a fifth when nurses are replaced with assistants'. As a chief nurse faced with the need to recruit and retain a modern workforce, if after all of the negative press there are still people who would like to take on the role, there are a number of factors that I and other senior nurses should consider. Workforce planning guidance issued by Health Education England (HEE) for 2015/16 recognised that the challenge this year is that 'HEE will no longer simply roll forward what has historically been a supply driven system' (HEE, 2015: 4). HEE states it plans to use the relevant committee structures and advisory groups to understand the workforce implications of the new care models required