Psychology Workforce NHSScotland

This release by NHS Education for Scotland (NES) provides a quarterly update, as at 30 June 2023, on NHSScotland Psychology Services workforce staff in post and vacant posts. 

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 30 June 2023:

• There were a total of 1610.1 WTE (1917 headcount) clinical staff in post. This is 8.9% (132 WTE) higher than reported 12 months previously. Since the last quarterly census, the WTE of staff in post has increased by 4.7% (71.9 WTE).
• There were a total of 968.7 WTE (1203 headcount) Applied Psychologists in post: an increase of 3.9% (36.8 WTE) from 30 June 2022 and 1.6% (15.5 WTE) from 31 March 2023. There was a large increase in Clinical Associate in Applied Psychology (CAAP) roles. As at 30 June 2023, 243.3 WTE (271 headcount) Clinical Associates were in post in NHSScotland. This is an increase of 14.4% (30.6 WTE) from 30 June 2022 and 15.2% (32.1 WTE) from 31 March 2023.
• The greatest increase in WTE was seen in the adult target age category. As at 30 June 2023, 60.6% (975.9 WTE) of clinical staff worked with adults: an increase of 12.8% (110.9 WTE) since 30 June 2022, and 5.6% (52.1 WTE) since 31 March 2023. 25.3% (407.2 WTE) of clinical staff worked with children and adolescents: an increase of 2.5% (9.9 WTE) since 30 June 2022, and 2.9% (11.3 WTE) since 31 March 2023. 5.5% (88.2 WTE) of clinical staff worked with older adults: an increase of 11.2% (8.8 WTE) since 30 June 2022, and 1.2% (1 WTE) since 31 March 2023. 8.6% (138.7 WTE) of clinical staff worked with more than one target age: an increase of 1.7% (2.3 WTE) since 30 June 2022, and 5.6% (7.4 WTE) since 31 March 2023.
• There were 173.6 WTE advertised vacancies, which is -20.2% (-43.9 WTE) lower than 30 June 2022 and 10.4% (16.3 WTE) higher than 31 March 2023. Of these vacancies, 62.7% (108.9 WTE) had been advertised for less than three months, 21.1% (36.7 WTE) for three to six months and 16.1% (28 WTE) for longer than six months. The vacancy rate was 9.7%, compared to 9.3% at 31 March 2023 and 12.8% at 30 June 2022.