NHS staff numbers in England increase for second year running to reach just over 1.43 million, census shows today

The NHS workforce in England has increased for the second year running to reach just over 1.43 million, a census by The NHS Information Centre shows today.

Staff numbers reached 1,432,000 in 2009 - an increase of 63,300 (4.6 per cent) on the previous year.

The latest figure is a 333,650 (30.4 per cent) increase on 1999 and represents a 2.7 per cent average annual increase over the last decade.

The census covers hospital, community, general and personal medical services. The census overview of selected staff groups shows that at 30 September 2009 the NHS employed:

  • 725,580 professionally qualified clinical staff – up 23,750 (3.4 per cent) on 2008 and 183,810 (33.9 per cent) on 1999, with an average annual increase of 3.0 per cent over the last decade.

Within this group the NHS employed:

  • 375,500 qualified nurses (excluding bank nurses) 4- including practice nurses – up 7,080 (1.9 per cent) on 2008 and 73,490 (24.3 per cent) on 1999, with an annual average increase of 2.2 per cent over the last decade.
  • 149,600 qualified scientific, therapeutic and technical staff 5 – up 7,040 (4.9 per cent) on 2008 and 47,200 (46.1 per cent) on 1999, with an annual average increase of 3.9 per cent over the last decade.
  • 51,500 hospital doctors in training 6– up 2,320 (4.7 per cent) on 2008 and 19,980 (63.4 per cent) on 1999, with an annual average increase of 5.0 per cent over the last decade.
  • 40,270 GP contracts 7 - up by 2,550 (6.8 per cent) on 2008 and 9,310 (30.1 per cent) on 1999, with a 2.7 per cent annual increase over the last decade.
  • 36,950 consultants - up 2,040 (5.8 per cent) on 2008 and 13,630 (58.4 per cent) on 1999, with an annual average increase of 4.7 per cent over the last decade.
  • 24,310 midwives (excluding bank staff) 4– up 650 (2.8 per cent) on 2008 and 3,410 (16.3 per cent) on 1999, with an annual average increase of 1.5 per cent over the last decade.

The census also shows the NHS employed:

  • 377,620 staff in support to clinical staff 8 – up 22,610 (6.4 per cent) on 2008 and 81,000 (27.3 per cent) on 1999, with an annual average increase of 2.4 per cent over the last decade.
  • 236,100 NHS infrastructure support staff 9– up 17,040 (7.8 per cent) on 2008 and 64,900 (37.9 per cent) on 1999, with an annual average increase of 3.3 per cent over the last decade.

Within the latter group the NHS employed:

  • 44,660 managers and senior managers – up 4,750 (11.9 per cent) since 2008 and 20,370 (83.9 per cent) since 1999, with an annual average increase of 6.3 per cent over the last decade.

The census also shows increases in the headcount of most staff groups; including school nurses, healthcare assistants and community matrons.

It also shows a decrease in the headcount of practice nurses, health visitors and nursing assistants and auxiliary staff.

Chief executive of The NHS Information Centre Tim Straughan said: “Following a dip in numbers in 2007, the NHS headcount has increased for the second year running to reach a record high.

“This census shows how the 1.43 million strong workforce is made up of different proportions of staff groups, providing a meaningful snapshot of who is working for our health service.”

Full copies of the reports are at: pubs/nhsworkforce

ENDS

Notes to Editors

  1. The NHS Information Centre for health and social care (The IC) is England's authoritative, central, independent source of health and social care information. It works with a wide range of health and social care providers nationwide to provide the facts and figures that help the NHS and social services run effectively. Its role is to collect data, analyse it and convert it into useful information which helps providers improve their services and supports academics, researcher, regulators and policymakers in their work. The NHS IC also produces a wide range of statistical publications each year across a number of areas including: primary care, health and lifestyles, screening, hospital care, population and geography, social care and workforce and pay statistics.
  2. All numbers are for 30 September 2009 and have been rounded to the nearest 10. All changes are for 30 September 2008 to 30 September 2009 or 30 September 1999 to 2009 and refer to headcount unless stated otherwise. Headcount refers to the total number of staff in both part-time and full-time employment. The NHS IC has also issued a Data Quality Statement (statistics-and-data-collections/workforce/nhs-staff-numbers/nhs-staff-1999--2009-overview) as required following the introduction of a new Code of Practice for Official Statistics last year.
  3. This annual publication presents the results from three censuses monitoring the NHS workforce as at 30th September 2009. The statistical publication takes the format of a summary document and three Statistical Bulletins: two covering Hospital and Community Services (Medical and Dental staff; and Non-medical staff); and one covering General and Personal Medical Services. These data do not include high street dentists and ophthalmic practitioners which are covered in other publications: www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/dentalstats0809 www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/gosactivity0809p2
  4. Figures for qualified nurses, midwives, health visitors, nursing assistants and auxiliary staff in this press release exclude bank staff, however the report also includes separate figures for qualified nurses and midwives including bank staff. Bank staff work through NHS Professionals or the hospitals' own bank arrangements. Agency staff are excluded. The census collects the number of bank staff who have worked in the week prior to census day (30th September).The “Qualified nurses” figure in the press release also includes practice nurses.
  5. Qualified scientific, therapeutic and technical staff includes the following sub groups; qualified allied health professionals (such as physiotherapists, radiographers and occupational therapists), other qualified scientific, therapeutic and technical staff (such as healthcare scientists and pharmacists).
  6. Hospital doctors in training include the follow sub groups; registrars, senior house officers, specialty registrars (StRs) who are on fixed term specialty training appointments (FTSTAs), house officers, foundation programme doctors years 1 and 2 and other staff working at equivalent grades that are not in an educationally approved post.
  7. GP numbers in this press release include GP registrars and retainers and are calculated by contract as opposed to headcount. This is because GPs are employed via contracts with one or more practice and/or primary care trust. The number of contracts therefore gives the most accurate picture of how patients are actually served by GPs in practices.
  8. Staff in support to clinical staff includes the following sub groups; support to doctors and nursing (including bank staff) - such as nursery nurses, healthcare assistants, clerical and administrative staff working specifically in clinical areas such as medical secretaries, and maintenance and works staff specifically identified as supporting clinical areas; support to scientific, therapeutic and technical (ST&T) staff – such as ST&T trainees, healthcare assistants, clerical and administrative staff and maintenance and works staff specifically identified as supporting the ST&T group; support to ambulance staff – such as trainee ambulance technicians, clerical and administrative staff and maintenance and works staff specifically identified as supporting the ambulance service.
  9. NHS infrastructure support includes the following sub groups; manager and senior managers, central functions (such as personnel, finance, IT, legal services and library services), and hotel, property and estates (such as laundry, catering, caretakers and domestic services).
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