In a shock move, the government has abandoned its key project to ensure hospitals have enough nurses to look after patients safely. The move comes in response to a speech yesterday by NHS England boss Simon Stevens, who told a conference of NHS leaders in Liverpool that he wanted to move away from the “more mechanistic approach to the setting of nurse staffing ratios”.
In response the clinical advisor NICE moved swiftly, with NICE chief executive Sir Andrew Dillon saying “I have taken the decision to suspend further work on our safe staffing programme, including any further meetings of the advisory committee.”
