Pádraig Rice
Question:780. Deputy Pádraig Rice asked the Minister for Health the status of phase three of the Framework for Safe Nurse Staffing and Skill Mix; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [56671/25]
View answerTuesday, 21 October 2025
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The Framework for Safe Nurse Staffing and Skill Mix provides an evidence-based flexible approach to determine the number of nurses and healthcare assistants required to provide safe and quality care based on patient need. Framework development comprises three phases and implementation of the Framework nationally is overseen by the HSEs national lead for Safe Nurse Staffing and Skill Mix.
Since 2018, two safe staffing policy documents have been published, Phase 1 focused on Adult General and Specialist Medical and Surgical Care Settings and Phase 2 focused on Adult Emergency Care Settings.
Phase 3 of the Framework in Community settings comprises three distinct stages: (i) Long-Term residential care settings for older persons; (ii) Community care settings; and (iii) Step-down and Rehabilitation settings.
Phase 3 (i) of the Framework is now at an advanced stage of development for long-term residential care settings for older people and has been overseen by a national taskforce. The framework was tested nationally across a selection of public, private and voluntary long-term residential care settings for older persons and the testing was underpinned by a programme of research. Based on this evidence, policy development is underway and is expected to be completed towards the end of 2025.
In relation to the second stage in Phase 3 which applies to community care settings, work has commenced to determine a model of community nursing that will deliver and align with Sláintecare. A research team has been engaged, and an implementation oversight structure is currently being established to progress this phase of the framework.