Framework for Safe Nurse Staffing and Skill Mix: Phase 2

Phase 2 of the Framework is focused on safe nurse staffing and skill mix in adult emergency care settings. The Final Report of the Taskforce on Staffing and Skill Mix for Nursing for Phase 2 was published in June 2022. It provides an overview of the approach to the development and testing of Phase 2 of the Framework, and sets out the key information to guide services on how to determine safe nurse staffing and skill mix in emergency care settings using the Nursing Hours per Patient Presentation (NHpPP). NHpPP has been robustly tested in ED settings internationally and is based on a number of measures, including: Number of patient presentations; Patient’s Manchester Triage System score; Average ED Care Time for each triage category.

Phase 2 of the Taskforce was completed in 2022.

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A number of supporting documents were published. ‘Evaluation of the Pilot Implementation of the Framework for Emergency care settings – Report 1 - Baseline Report’ provides baseline data in three emergency departments (EDs) and one local injury unit (LIU).

‘Evaluation of the Pilot Implementation of the Framework for Emergency care settings – Report 2’ explored the extent to which changes in staffing within the selected departments had an impact on patients’ experience within the emergency care setting, as well as on the experience of the nursing and healthcare assistant workforce and on organisational factors, this report outlines the methods and results of the programme of research examining the impact of introducing a pilot safe staffing framework to emergency care settings.

‘Evaluation of the Pilot Implementation of the Framework for Emergency care settings – Report 3 – Final Report’ includes Time 3 data, which builds on data collected at Time 1 (baseline pre-intervention) and at Time 2 (following application of the Framework). During the pilot testing of the Framework within the emergency settings, the COVID-19 pandemic occurred. The research team extended the study of the pilot sites in order to determine if the initial outcomes from Framework had been sustained and the impact that COVID-19 had on safe staffing within emergency care settings. Hence, this provides data depicting the changes within ED settings during the COVID-19 pandemic.