Psychology Workforce NHSScotland

This release by NHS Education for Scotland (NES) provides a quarterly update, as at 31 March 2020, on the Psychology Services workforce staff in post and trainees.

Figures are presented as headcount (actual number of staff) and whole time equivalent (WTE), which adjusts the figures to take account of part-time working.

As at 31 March 2020:

• Within Psychology Services in NHSScotland, there were a total of 1214.1 WTE (1,475 headcount) clinical staff in post. This is 91.4% (579.7 WTE) higher than in September 2006, 3.2% (37.8 WTE) higher than reported 12 months previously and less than 1.0% (0.3 WTE) lower than the December 2019 census.
• The number of female staff in post has dropped slightly compared to the previous quarter (9 headcount, 0.7%). However, female staff still comprise the majority of the NHSScotland psychology workforce (85.2%). The majority of female staff work part-time hours (58.3%), while the majority of male staff work whole-time (70.8%).
• The 2020 intake of trainees to both NHSScotland MSc programmes was relatively high this year compared to previous years. For the MSc Psychological Therapy in Primary Care, there was an intake of 35 students in 2020, compared to 30 in 2019 and an average intake of 24 between 2005 and 2020. The intake to the MSc Applied Psychology for Children and Young People was 29, compared to 30 in 2019 and an average intake of 18 between 2007 and 2020.