s 12IJ Duty to follow common staffing method
(1) In relation to health care of a type mentioned in section 12IK, a Health Board or the Agency (as the case may be) must, no less often than at the frequency specified in regulations by the Scottish Ministers, use the common staffing method set out in subsection (2). (2) The common staffing method means that a Health Board or the Agency (as the case may be)— (a) uses the staffing level tool and the professional judgement tool as prescribed in regulations under subsection (3) and takes into account the results from those tools, (b) takes into account, in so far as relevant, any measures for monitoring and improving the quality of health care which are published as standards and outcomes under section 10H(1) by the Scottish Ministers (including any measures developed as part of a national care assurance framework), (c) takes into account— (i) its current staffing levels and any vacancies, (ii) the different skills and levels of experience of its employees, (iii) the role and professional duties, in particular, of any individual with lead clinical professional responsibility for the particular type of health care, (iv) the effect that decisions about staffing and the use of resources taken for the particular type of health care may have on the provision of other types of health care including, in particular, those to which this section does not apply, (v) the local context in which it provides health care, (vi) patient needs, (vii) appropriate clinical advice, (viii) any assessment by HIS, and any relevant assessment by any other person, of the quality of health care which it provides, (ix) experience gained from using the real-time assessment arrangements under section 12IC(1) and the risk escalation processes under sections 12ID and 12IE, (x) comments by patients, and by individuals who have a personal interest in their health care (for example family members and carers within the meaning of section 1 of the Carers (Scotland) Act 2016), which relate to the duty imposed by section 12IA, and (xi) comments by its employees which relate to the duty imposed by section 12IA, (d) identifies and takes all reasonable steps to mitigate any risks, and (e) having followed the steps described in paragraphs (a) to (d), decides what changes (if any) are needed as a result to its staffing establishment, and to the way in which it provides health care. (3) The Scottish Ministers may by regulations prescribe— (a) a “staffing level tool” designed to provide quantitative information relating to workload, based on patient needs, in order to assist in determining the appropriate staffing levels for a particular kind of health care provision, and (b) a “professional judgement tool” designed to provide quantitative information relating to professional judgement in order to assist in determining the appropriate staffing levels for a particular kind of health care provision. (4) For the purposes of this section, a reference to a Health Board's (or, as the case may be) the Agency's staffing establishment is a reference to the number of employees of a particular kind (or kinds) that the Board (or, as the case may be) the Agency have determined as being appropriate to deliver a type of health care mentioned in section 12IK. (5) The Scottish Ministers may by regulations amend subsection (2) so as to change the description of the common staffing method.