Psychology Workforce NHSScotland

This release by NHS Education for Scotland (NES) provides a quarterly update, as at 30 September 2022, on the Psychology Services workforce staff in post, vacant posts, and staff in training. 

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 September 2022:

• There were a total of 1478.0 WTE (1778 headcount) clinical staff in post. This is 10.8% (144.6 WTE) higher than reported 12 months previously. Since the last quarterly census, the WTE of staff in post has decreased very slightly, by -0.3 WTE.
• Female staff comprise the majority of the NHSScotland Psychology Services workforce: 85.4% (1519 headcount) compared to 14.6% (259 headcount) male staff. While the headcount of whole-time female staff has increased by 16.7% (100 headcount) since 30 September 2021, these figures have fallen by -1.7% (-12 headcount) since the previous quarter. The headcount of part-time female staff continues to increase: by 6% (46 headcount) since 30 September 2021 and 2.4% (19 headcount) since 30 June 2022.
• There were 210.6 WTE advertised vacancies, which is 7.1% (13.9 WTE) higher than 30 September 2021 and -3.2% (-6.9 WTE) lower than 30 June 2022. Of these vacancies, 54.6% (114.9 WTE) had been advertised for less than three months, 28.3% (59.6 WTE) for three to six months and 17.1% (36.1 WTE) for longer than six months. The vacancy rate was 12.5%, compared to 12.8% at 30 June 2022 and 12.9% at 30 September 2021.
• In 2022, 47 students graduated from the Doctorate in Clinical Psychology, 30 from the University of Edinburgh course and 17 from the course at the University of Glasgow. The probabilities of completing these courses within five years of starting are 0.95 and 0.96 respectively.