Justin Madders MP, Labour’s Shadow Health Minister, commenting on NICE’s leaked guidance on safe staffing levels for hospital emergency departments, said:

“Safe staffing levels are essential for patient safety and were a key recommendation of the Francis report.

"The Government’s decision to block these guidelines from being published is deeply concerning and raises a lot of questions about the ability of experts to give independent advice to the NHS. Documents being leaked in this way goes to the heart of whether the Tories can be trusted to run the NHS. How can they expect to have the confidence of patients, the public and staff if they can’t be honest with them?

“Ministers need to urgently set out how they intend to tackle the workforce crisis in the NHS and ensure hospital wards are not left dangerously understaffed.”