By Thomas Moore, Health & Science Correspondent
Hospitals will have to make public the number of nurses on their wards under a series of measures to improve patient safety.
The Department of Health said the monthly reports would be mandatory from next April.
Hospitals in England will also have to disclose the percentage of shifts that meet safe staffing guidelines independently approved by the health watchdog NICE.
The staffing levels will be made public on a new patient safety website, which will also include information on the number of "never events" - those which should never happen in the health service such as a surgeon operating on the wrong part of the body.
The plans are part of the Government's response to the inquiry into the scandal at Stafford Hospital, in which up to 1,200 patients are thought to have died needlessly as a result of poor care.
NHS England will also set up a national patient safety programme to spread best practice and learn from mistakes.
Health minister Norman Lamb said: "We are determined to see the NHS become a world leader in patient safety, with a safety ethos and level of transparency that matches the airline industry.
"We need transparency on staffing levels, backed up by a strong inspection regime to get better, safer care."
Frank Robinson's son John died after misdiagnosis at Stafford Hospital But Christina McAnea, head of health at Unison, said: "The Government has missed another opportunity to introduce fixed, safe nurse to patient ratios. There is safety in numbers when it comes to caring for patients and this one step would bring about a revolutionary change on the wards.
"Recommending a 'toolkit' to set minimum staffing levels is fine, but what will happen if these are ignored when wards are under pressure, which is almost a daily occurrence in today's NHS?"
Figures from NHS England show that hospitals expect to recruit an extra 3,700 nurses by the end of the financial year.
In February the Mid Staffordshire Inquiry by Sir Robert Francis QC made more than 200 recommendations to change the culture in the NHS and put compassion back at the heart of patient care.
The report had recommended that hospitals should have a duty of candour, a legal responsibility to tell patients if something has gone wrong in their care.
But the Department of Health has so far refused to fully introduce the policy.
Patient satisfaction at the Princess Alexandra Hospital has soared Peter Walsh, the head of patient safety campaign group Action Against Medical Accidents, told Sky News: "The current plans are that this is limited to fatal cases and the most severe cases of permanent disability.
"That would be a disaster. In effect, it would legitimise the vast majority of serious harm caused to patients being covered up. That would take us in exactly the opposite direction from the one we need to go in."
Frank Robinson, whose son John died after he was misdiagnosed and sent home from Stafford Hospital, also urged the Government to introduce the duty of candour as soon as possible.
He told Sky News: "So many lives have been lost through cover-ups and so many people have suffered. I just don't want that to happen to anyone else and this is a golden opportunity, and if the Government miss this opportunity, that's shameful."
The Mid Staffs Inquiry had strongly criticised managers for chasing government targets, rather than treating patients with compassion.
:: Watch Sky News for the latest reaction to the health reforms.
Read the full Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust Public Inquiry report here: Executive Summary, Volume 1, Volume 2, Volume 3, Key Facts and Figures
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