Safe staffing | Royal College of Nursing

We're calling for safe and effective care to be enshrined in law in each UK country.

Calling for safe staffing across the UK

England

In England there is no law related to nurse staffing.

The RCN is campaigning for legislation to guarantee nurse staffing levels in England across all sectors and settings.

The Nurse Staffing Levels (Wales) Act 2016 was the first of its kind in the UK.

RCN Wales continues to campaign to protect patient care and empower the ward sister/charge nurse by advocating for the extension of the Nurse Staffing Levels (Wales) Act 2016 to children inpatient wards, mental health inpatient wards, community and care home settings.

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Scotland

In June 2019 the Health and Care (Staffing) (Scotland) Act became law, the first legislation in the UK to set out requirements for safe staffing across both health and social care services.

Implementation has been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic but the RCN is calling for the Act to be fully implemented by the end of 2021.

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Northern Ireland

Following industrial action during 2019/2020 to achieve pay equality and safe staffing, the priority for RCN Northern Ireland is to hold the Department of Health and Northern Ireland Executive to account for the delivery of the Health Minister’s safe staffing framework, particularly in relation to the implementation of safe staffing legislation.

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RCN Nursing Workforce Standards

The RCN's Nursing Workforce Standards are the first national blueprint for tackling the nursing staff shortage levels across the UK. They set the standard for excellent patient care and nursing support in all settings, and all UK countries.

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Our principles for staffing for safe and effective care

Accountability

We want it to be clear whose job it is to make sure there are enough nurses to meet patients’ needs.

Numbers

We want the right number of nurses, with the right skills, to be in the right place, at the right time - so patients’ needs are met .

Strategy

We want a vision for tackling nurse shortages and making sure nursing helps meet the whole country’s health needs.

Plans

We want clear plans for getting the right numbers and skill mix of nursing staff and we want checks to make sure they really happen.

Education

We want governments to educate enough nursing students, and develop existing staff, to meet patients’ needs.

Find out more about our safe staffing campaign

28 Jul 2021
RCN launches ‘summer of action’ in protest against below-inflation NHS pay award

Events will be held across the UK as we prepare to consult members on next steps.
17 Jul 2021
New law in England must resolve nursing workforce shortages that compromise patient safety

RCN demands health secretary is made legally accountable for having enough health care staff as new report shows UK government ignored catalogue of warnings about nursing workforce crisis.
6 Jul 2021
Health and Care Bill: we’ll lobby to make ministers accountable for safe nurse staffing

RCN responds to proposed health service reforms in England, pledging to fight for legislative changes to ensure there are enough nursing staff to deliver safe and effective care.

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Read our reports

Subject guide

Safe staffing publications, resources and journal articles collated by the RCN library.

Advice guide

Guidance on staffing levels in the various health and care settings in the UK.

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Join our campaign for safe staffing