Hospitals get guidelines on safe nurse numbers

Hospitals in England are being given strict guidelines on safe staffing levels for nurses - but they stop short of giving absolute minimums.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence said having more than eight patients to one nurse on a ward in the day should act as a trigger for checking if care was being compromised.

It also set out a series of "red flag" events that should prompt concern.

The government said the move was a "major step forward".

The guidelines cover problems with basic care such as delays getting pain relief.

Other events include patients not being helped on a visit to the bathroom or not receiving their medication.

Both patients and nurses on wards can raise these. They must then be investigated and explanations provided for what has gone wrong.

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