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divdiv class=story-body readability=53 span class=story-date#13; span class=date18 November 2013/span#13;span class=time-textLast updated at /spanspan class=time20:51 ET/span#13; #13;/span#13;#13; #13;#13;#13; #13; #13; span class=byline span class=byline-nameBy Nick Triggle/span span class=byline-titleHealth correspondent, BBC News/span /span #13; #13; p class=introduction id=story_continues_1Hospitals in England are to be made to publish monthly details of whether they have enough nurses on their wards. /p#13; pFrom April, patients will be able to see the numbers on a new national safety website, and whether they meet recommended levels/p#13; pIt forms part of the government's response to the public inquiry into the Stafford Hospital scandal, which will be laid before Parliament later./p#13; pLabour said the new focus on recruitment was long overdue./p#13; pThe move has been called for by nurse leaders and MPs in recent months./p#13; pThe neglect and abuse at the hospital between 2005 and 2008, which led to the unnecessary deaths of hundreds of patients, had already been well documented, but the £13m a href=http://www.midstaffspublicinquiry.com/reportFrancis Inquiry/a, published at the start of February, also revealed wider cultural problems in the NHS./p#13; span class=cross-headIntense debate/span#13; pIt accused the NHS of putting corporate self-interest ahead of patients and concluded that the failings went from the top to the bottom of the system./p#13; pIn total 290 recommendations were put forward and Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt is expected to say most of them have been accepted, when he addresses MPs later./p#13; pIt has already become clear steps such as creating an offence of wilful neglect to cover nurses and doctors and tougher standards for healthcare workers will be introduced./p#13; pBut in recent months there has been intense debate about the issue of staffing levels - something the Francis Inquiry said should be looked at./p#13; div class=story-feature narrow#13; a class=hidden href=#story_continues_2Continue reading the main story/a h2 class=quote“spanStart Quote/span/h2#13;blockquote readability=2p class=first-childPatients and the public are therefore entitled to know that we have the right number of people in place to provide safe, quality care every time”/p/blockquote#13;span class=endquoteEnd Quote/span#13; span class=quote-creditJane Cummings/span#13; span class=quote-credit-titleChief Nursing Officer/span#13;#13; /div p id=story_continues_2The Safe Staffing Alliance, which includes organisations such as the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), has called for a minimum ratio of one nurse to eight patients, while the Health Select Committee has said hospitals should follow the lead of hospitals like the Salford Royal, which displays staffing levels on individual wards./p#13; pThe government has already asked the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, the official advisory body for the health service, to look at how safe staffing should be measured./p#13; pEvidence suggests different levels of staffing are needed for different wards./p#13; pThat means there will be no overall minimum./p#13; pInstead, the new website - expected to be run by NHS England or the Care Quality Commission - is likely to give details on numbers of staff and whether they breach recommended levels./p#13; pIt is also expected to include information on other indicators, such as death rates and complaints, although these are already publicly available./p#13; pHospital boards will be required to publicly review the data twice a year./p#13; span class=cross-head'Open and honest'/span#13; pChief nursing officer Jane Cummings said: We have a very clear evidence of a link between appropriate staffing and the outcomes of our patients. Patients and the public are therefore entitled to know that we have the right number of people in place to provide safe, quality care every time./p#13; pHealth Minister Norman Lamb added safety was about being open and honest./p#13; pWe are determined to see the NHS become a world leader in patient safety - with a safety ethos and level of transparency that matches the airline industry, he said./p#13; pHe also said the Francis report seemed to be having an effect already, with latest data suggesting the NHS was planning to hire more than 3,700 extra nurses in the coming months./p#13; pThis comes after official figures show about 3,000 have been lost in recent years./p#13; pRCN general secretary Peter Carter said: Greater transparency on staffing levels on every ward will encourage trusts to examine and assess whether they have a safe level of staff./p#13; pBut he added: It is also important that trusts are able to take action if their staffing levels fall below this number./p#13; pLabour's shadow health secretary Andy Burnham said there were close to 6,000 fewer nurses in the NHS than when the government came to power in 2010./p#13; pAs a result, too many hospitals in England do not have safe staffing levels, he said./p#13; pWe have repeatedly warned the government about nurse numbers falling to dangerous levels. This new focus on recruitment is overdue but it shouldn't have taken this long and it won't be enough to repair the damage of three years of falling nurse numbers on David Cameron's watch./p#13; /div/divbrbrcentera href=http://www.wizardrss.comPowered By WizardRSS.com/a | a href=http://www.wizardrss.comFull Text RSS Feed/a | a href=http://www.amazon.com/RFID-Blocking-Cards-Identity-Protector/dp/B00CJHZLEWRFID/a | a href=http://www.wpzonbuilder.comAmazon Affiliate/a/center