Safe staffing in mental health services

This work was commissioned by NHS England as a quick snapshot of the current research evidence about mental health nurse staffing levels and skill mix in mental health services.

To do this, we plan to find, examine and pull together the research literature, and wider evidence, around two research questions.

Question 1:
What is the current evidence on the impact of mental health nurses’ skill mix across mental health services and patient outcomes?

Question 2:
What is the current evidence on the impact of current mental health nurse deployment models to support the provision of safe, efficient patient care across mental health services?

Once we have reviewed the literature we will publish the findings so that this information can be used for future plans and policies for mental health services.

We have published the review protocol on the Open Science Framework (OSF) website. The findings will be published on the NHS England website upon completion of the review.