EDSNCT launch letter

September 2021 

Dear colleague, 

Emergency Department Safer Nursing Care Tool 

We are now delighted to announce the launch of a new Emergency Department Safer Nursing Care Tool (ED SNCT) which is available to all organisations with emergency departments, including paediatrics.  

You will be aware of NHS England and Improvement’s commitment to evidence based safe staffing models, as set out in the National Quality Board (NQB) publication ‘Supporting NHS providers to deliver the right staff, with the right skills, in the right place at the right time: Safe, sustainable and productive staffing’  in 2019 and NHS Improvements’ ‘Developing workforce safeguards – Supporting providers to deliver high quality care through safe and effective staffing’ in 2018. To support that ambition, the Shelford Group Chief Nurses have led the development of innovative and evidence-based decision support tools for setting clinical staffing establishments, known as the Safer Nursing Care Tools (SNCT) and the Mental Health Optimal Staffing Tool (MHOST). These tools have been developed and managed in partnership with Imperial College London and are supported by the NHS Chief Nursing Officer for England. The following tools are currently available: 

• Adult Inpatient Wards in Acute Hospitals (endorsed by NICE) 
• Adult Acute Assessment Units 
• Children & Young People’s Inpatient Wards in Acute Hospitals 
• Mental Health Optimal Staffing Tool 
• Emergency Department  

The ED SNCT is an easy-to-use, evidence-based tool that calculates nurse staffing requirements for emergency departments based on patients’ needs (acuity and dependency) which, together with professional judgement, supports emergency department managers and chief nurses in their safe staffing decisions. The tool has been adapted to consider the implications of COVID-19 on staffing. Further information on the Emergency Department SNCT can be found here. 

 The tool offers nurses a reliable method against which to deliver evidence-based workforce plans to support existing emergency department services as well as emerging services.  This tool is particularly exciting in that it provides the following: 

• Establishment set by Annual Attendance as well as Acuity and Dependency 
• Care Hours to Contact metrics on the current and recommended establishments 
• A Deployment arm showing the hourly staffing requirement aligned to the acuity & dependency. 

There will be a webinar on 23rd September 12-1.30pm for anyone interested in hearing more about the tool. To book your place please follow this link where you can register for this event.  

The ED SNCT is licensed by Imperial College London on behalf of the Shelford Group. The tool is free of charge to all NHS trusts in England and can be licensed via Imperial College London NHS Technology here: www.innovahealthtec.com.  

 Please do forward this information onto relevant colleagues in your organisation, including those managing emergency departments. 

Yours sincerely,  

* The Shelford Group is a collaboration between ten of the largest teaching and research NHS hospitals trusts in England. The Chief Nurses of each of these NHS Trusts belong to a Sub-Group of the organisation and they meet every two months to share best-practice, benchmark and work towards improving standards in nursing. They also lead the development of innovative and evidence based decision support tools for setting clinical staffing establishments, known as the Safer Nursing Care Tools (SNCT) and the Mental Health Optimal Staffing Tool (MHOST).