Safe staffing levels

One of the objectives of the The Mental Health Staffing Framework is to give mental health leaders the skills and knowledge to plan and deliver safe staffing for inpatient services.

All trusts must publish information about the number of nursing staff working on each ward. This is required by the Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) and the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

We have information boards on each ward, indicating planned and actual staffing levels for every shift. We also publish a month-by-month, cross-site summary on this website.

Work is underway on a guide for community mental health services. It will add to the work of the Mental Health Taskforce on establishing the right balance of staff when dealing with those with mental health conditions.