Long-term staff vacancy rates in most areas across the NHS have risen for the first time in at least five years, according to a survey from The NHS Information Centre out today.

Across most staff groups, long-term vacancy rates show a slight increase on last year but remain lower than 2006 and before.

The number of vacancies remaining unfilled for three months or more now stands at about one in five of all vacancies, although it should be noted that these long-term vacancies still represent a small proportion of the overall NHS workforce.

Total vacancy rates are also up across most staff groups.

The NHS Vacancies Survey - England, 31 March 2009 reports on NHS vacancies as at 31 March 2009. It reports on both total vacancies and ‘long-term' vacancies which have remained unfilled for three months or more. ‘Long –term' vacancies are considered a better indicator (than total vacancies) of hard to fill positions with in the NHS. Among the main staff groups it shows:

• Total vacancies among NHS medical and dental staff (hospital doctors and dentists excluding training grades) rose from 3.6 per cent in 2008 to 5.2 per cent, with three month vacancy rates rising from 0.9 per cent to 1.5 per cent.
• Among qualified nursing staff, total vacancies rose from 2.5 per cent in 2008 to 3.1 per cent, with long-term vacancies also increasing from 0.5 per cent to 0.7 per cent.
• Vacancies fell among psychiatric nurses from 3.2 per cent in 2008 to 2.7 per cent. However the long term vacancy rate rose from 0.6 to 0.9 per cent. This means about one in three vacancies for a post of psychiatric nurses takes three months or more to fill.
• Among midwives, vacancies increased from 2.1 per cent in 2008 to 3.4 per cent, with long term vacancies also rising from 0.8 per cent to 1.0 per cent and accounting for about one in four of all midwife vacancies.
• London was the SHA with the highest long-term vacancy rate among qualified nursing staff with the 3 month vacancy rate increasing from 1.2 per cent in 2008 to 1.6 per cent this year.

Also, published today was the GP Practice Vacancies Survey 2009 which shows that long-term vacancies among GPs are broadly static.

Chief executive of The NHS Information Centre Tim Straughan said: “Today's figures show a slight increase in the rates of long-term vacancies among most groups of NHS staff for the first time in at least five years, but remaining lower than 2006 or before”

The NHS Vacancy Survey 2009 is at www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/vacancysurvey09

The GP Practice Vacancies Survey is at www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/gpvacancies09

ENDS

Notes to editors

1. The NHS Information Centre is England's authoritative, independent source of health and social care information. It works with more than 300 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, researchers, regulators and policymakers in their work. The NHS Information Centre 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. The NHS Vacancy Survey received returns from all but two NHS organisations in England. The three month vacancy rates are calculated by dividing the number of vacancies by full-time equivalent staff in post plus the number of vacancies. This ratio is expressed as a percentage. The staff in post figures are taken from the latest NHS Workforce Census data, available at statistics-and-data-collections/workforce/nhs-staff-numbers
3. The GP Practice Vacancies Survey collects data directly from GP practices and produces estimated three-month vacancy figures at national level for GPs, practices nurses/nurse practitioners and other practice staff. The survey sampled 2,000 randomly selected GP practices in England and 200 practices in Wales.
4. “Hospital doctors below consultant level” means medical and dental staff (excluding training grades) other than consultants. Training grade doctors are not included within the vacancy survey, due to their regular ‘rotations' process causing misleading patterns in data.
5. Both of these surveys have been established for a number of years and seek information on the volume of ‘hard to fill' vacancies that have been open, and actively recruited to, for three months or more at the end of March each year. This year the survey was extended to include details of total active vacancies. The aim was to provide improved analysis and benchmarking data for the NHS and Department of Health.
6. For media enquiries please call 0845 257 6990 or contact Fraser Woodward on 07983 629 448.