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R31

Staffing and skills mix review

Vale of Leven Inquiry · The Vale of Leven Hospital Inquiry Report · Issued 24 November 2014 · Addressed to: NHS Health Boards (Scotland)

Government responseScottish Government: Accepted (Jun 2015)

DeliveryScottish Government says in progress (Jun 2015)

Recommendation, verbatim from the inquiry

●Inquiry recommendation

Health Boards should ensure that the staffing and skills mix is appropriate for each ward, and that it is reviewed in response to increases in the level of activity/patient acuity and dependency in the ward. Where the clinical profile of a group or ward of patients changes, (due to acuity and/or dependency) an agreed review framework and process should be in place to ensure that the appropriate skills base and resource requirements are easily provided.

Vale of Leven Inquiry, The Vale of Leven Hospital Inquiry Report · 24 Nov 2014 Source PDF →

Published evidence summary

AI-generated evidence summary

The Inquiry asked health boards to review ward staffing and skills mix against patient needs. In June 2015, Shona Robison, Cabinet Secretary for Health, Wellbeing and Sport, stated to the Scottish Parliament that work was underway on workforce planning tools to address ward staffing ratios, skills mix, and changing acuity levels, but an agreed review framework and process was not mentioned (Shona Robison, Jun 2015).

Sources

Shona Robison, Jun 2015

AI-generated summary of the record on this page, checked by a second model and automatic checks, 1 Oct 2026.

About this summary
This recommendation applies across many organisations. The record above reflects central policy activity; adoption in individual organisations may vary.

Report-level response context

The Scottish Government accepted all 75 recommendations together, in its response published on 18 June 2015. The response states the acceptance in the Cabinet Secretary's foreword, in section 1.3 and in section 5.1, and repeats it for the recommendations on infection prevention and control (Chapter 3) and on nursing care (section 4.1). It is organised by theme, not by recommendation: Appendix 1 lists the chapter sections that relate to each recommendation, and no passage answers any one recommendation alone. The response shown is the acceptance in section 1.3, which covers all 75.

Government response

●Scottish Government · Accepted · 18 Jun 2015

Words of: Scottish Government, The Scottish Government's Response to the Vale of Leven Hospital Inquiry Report, section 1.3, 18 June 2015

The Scottish Government accepts its responsibility for the failings identified in the report and we apologise unreservedly for the suffering and loss caused. We accept in full all of the report's recommendations.

Extract from: The Scottish Government's Response to the Vale of Leven Hospital Inquiry Report

Delivery

●Scottish Government says in progress · 18 Jun 2015

A lot of work has gone on around that, particularly on getting the workforce planning tools correct. This is not just about staffing and staff ratios on particular wards, albeit that those are important. It is also about the skills mix and, potentially, changing levels of acuity in the ward.

From: Vale of Leven Inquiry (Scottish Government Response), Shona Robison, Cabinet Secretary for Health, Wellbeing and Sport

Site note: From the Cabinet Secretary for Health, Wellbeing and Sport's statement to the Scottish Parliament on 18 June 2015, the day the Scottish Government published its response, and her answers to members' questions on it. On recommendation 31 the words are her answer to a question that quoted the recommendation; the question is the member's words, so it is not in the row.

How this page is built

The recommendation and the government responses are verbatim from primary documents. Delivery statements and other bodies' findings are shown in their own words, each with its source. The summary is written by this site and labelled as such. The Index does not paraphrase sources or characterise intent; it records what has been published.