To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of mental health nurses in inpatient mental health hospitals in the context of patient safety.
Answered on
10 July 2023
Nursing staff are particularly important for the safety of inpatient settings. The investigation by Health Services Safety Investigations Body, announced on 28 June, will include looking at how to develop a safe, therapeutic staffing model for all mental health inpatient services.
The Long-Term Workforce Plan estimates a need to increase training places for mental health nurses by between 74% and 93% by 2030/31. The Plan sets out an ambition to increase mental health nursing places by 93% to more than 11,000 places by 2031/32. To support this ambition, training places will increase by 13% by 2025/26 and 38% by 2028/29.
As of April 2023, there were 39,929 full-time equivalent (FTE) mental health nurses working in National Health Service trusts and integrated care boards in England. Compared to April 2022, that is an increase of 1,442 (3.7%) FTE mental health nurses.