{"value":{"id":1908215,"askingMemberId":5361,"askingMember":null,"house":"Commons","memberHasInterest":false,"dateTabled":"2026-05-20T00:00:00","dateForAnswer":"2026-06-01T00:00:00","uin":"3714","questionText":"To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to introduce national minimum staffing level guidance for NHS services.","answeringBodyId":17,"answeringBodyName":"Department of Health and Social Care","isWithdrawn":false,"isNamedDay":false,"groupedQuestions":[],"answerIsHolding":false,"answerIsCorrection":false,"answeringMemberId":4444,"answeringMember":null,"correctingMemberId":null,"correctingMember":null,"dateAnswered":"2026-06-04T00:00:00","answerText":"<p>There are no plans to introduce national minimum staffing level guidance. Staffing levels are determined locally, supported by national guidance and regulated by the Care Quality Commission.</p><p>Guidance from the National Quality Board entitled Safe, sustainable and productive staffing, from 2016, and Developing Workforce Safeguards, from 2018, are designed to ensure a consistent, scientific, and evidence-based approach to staffing levels and to improve governance and board accountability relating to staffing decisions. Both documents are available, respectively, at the following two links:</p><p><a href=\"https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/nqb-guidance.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/nqb-guidance.pdf</a></p><p><a href=\"https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Developing-workforce-safeguards.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Developing-workforce-safeguards.pdf</a></p>","originalAnswerText":"","comparableAnswerText":"","dateAnswerCorrected":null,"dateHoldingAnswer":null,"attachmentCount":0,"heading":"NHS: Staff","attachments":[],"groupedQuestionsDates":[]},"links":[{"rel":"self","href":"/Questions/1908215","method":"GET"}]}