Andy Burnham MP, Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary, responding to the recommendations on hospital ward staffing levels from NICE, said:

“Hospitals across England are operating way beyond recommended capacity levels and, because of this, too many do not have enough staff to provide safe care. In the last year, inspectors failed one in six hospitals for not having adequate numbers of staff.

“Worryingly, this problem looks set to get worse as the NHS is planning to cut thousands more nurses in the coming years as financial problems deepen.

“The Government has trapped the NHS in a vicious circle. Huge cuts to nurse training have left the NHS relying on agency staff but that in turn has deepened financial problems. Last year, trusts spent £2.6 billion on agency staff - this short-sighted policy amounts to nothing less than gross mismanagement of the NHS.

“The NHS can’t carry on like this. Ministers must intervene to ensure safe staffing levels.”