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Psychology Services Workforce in NHSScotland: Quarter Ending 30 September 2024

Quarter ending 30 September 2024
Official Statistics
Published: 03 December 2024

About this release

This release by NHS Education for Scotland (NES) provides a quarterly update, as at 30 September 2024, on the Psychology Services workforce staff in post, vacant posts 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.

Main Points

At 30 September 2024:

  • There were a total of 1714.5 WTE (2056 headcount) clinical staff in post. This is a decrease of 1.6 (28.6 WTE) since the previous quarter, an increase of 6.6% (106.7 WTE) since the previous year, and an increase of 69.2% (701.4 WTE) since the previous decade. Of the total staff in post, 3.7% were on maternity/paternity leave and 1.0% were on long-term sick leave.
  • Applied Psychologists were the largest staff group in this workforce, accounting for 61.3% (1050.4 WTE) of clinical staff in post. Since last year, this staff group has grown by 82.9 WTE (8.6%). Other Clinical Staff, comprising Clinical Associates in Applied Psychology, Psychology Assistants and other therapists, accounted for 38.7% (664.1 WTE) of clinical staff in post. Since last year, this staff group has grown by 23.9 WTE (3.7%).
  • The vacancy rate was 5.4% (97.9 WTE), a decrease of 55.7 WTE over the last year and an increase of 2.6 WTE over the last quarter. A further 21.4 WTE vacancies were approved for recruitment but not yet advertised and 69.7 WTE had not yet been approved for recruitment. The majority of advertised vacancies, 47.6%, had been advertised for less than three months, 31.5% for longer than six months, and 20.9% for three to six months.
  • In September 2024, 84 students started training for the Doctorate in Clinical Psychology, 45 at the University of Edinburgh and 39 at the University of Glasgow. This compares with an average DClinPsych intake of 61 trainees per year, 36 at the University of Edinburgh and 25 at the University of Glasgow.
  • As at 30 September 2024, 45 students had graduated from the Doctorate in Clinical Psychology, 18 from the University of Glasgow and 27 from the University of Edinburgh. These numbers are anticipated to rise once more graduates have been registered. There is a 0.96 probability of completing these courses within ten years of starting.

Psychology Workforce 30 September 2024: Key Points

Background

The next release of this publication will be in March 2025.

Publications prior to 3 December 2019 can be accessed via the ISD Workforce publications page.