skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Data and reports
  3. Official workforce statistics
  4. All official statistics publications
  5. 30 June 2026 Mental health workforce

NHS Scotland Mental Health Workforce 31 March 2026

Quarter ending 31 March 2026
Official Statistics in Development
Published: 30 June 2026

About this release

This release by Public Services Delivery Scotland (PSD Scotland) provides information on the number of staff employed by NHS Scotland specifically to work in mental health services on 31 March 2026.

When describing the size of a particular staff group figures are presented as headcount (actual number of staff) or whole time equivalent (WTE) which adjusts the headcount to take account of part time working.

These statistics are Official Statistics in Development (OSID). We advise users to interpret them accordingly and to provide feedback to help us further develop and improve them. The development plan for these statistics details why we are publishing them and the timeframe for their continued development.

Main Points

As at 31st March 2026:

  • There were 20,454 people specifically employed by NHS Scotland to work in mental health services, teams and roles, accounting for 18,112.9 Whole Time Equivalent (WTE). This multidisciplinary workforce included staff delivering frontline mental health services and staff in administrative or support roles funded to support these services.

  • There were 18,251 people (16,247.6 WTE) working in staff groups outside of administrative or support services. These staff have been labelled as having a ‘clinical remit’ in the publication to indicate their roles are likely to involve the delivery of mental health treatments and interventions.

  • Nearly two-thirds of the mental health workforce were in nursing and midwifery, accounting for 11,362.9 WTE. Most (89% by WTE) were in mental health nursing, which includes registered mental health nurses as well as support roles and staff with other qualifications.

  • The second largest staff group with a clinical remit was clinical psychology and counselling (12% of the mental health workforce by WTE), followed by psychiatry (7.1%), and allied health professions (6.1%).

  • Most of the mental health workforce were women (79%) and nearly a quarter (23%) were over 55. This differed by staff group—for example, 24% of nursing and midwifery staff were over 55, compared with 11% in clinical psychology and counselling. Mean WTE was generally greater for men relative to women and lower for older staff than younger staff.

Background

This is the first time we are releasing these statistics, for which we use a novel methodology for identifying employments in mental health services. The methodology, data sources and data quality are outlined in the technical document.

The statistics capture a multidisciplinary workforce working in inpatient and community settings in roles across medical, nursing, psychology, allied health professions, pharmacy, emergency services, social work and other therapists and support workers. The statistics include staff employed in all territorial health boards, as well as The State Hospital, NHS 24 and Scottish Ambulance Services.

Only staff employed by NHS Scotland and working contracted hours on 31 March 2026 are included; bank staff are excluded. NHS staff providing mental health interventions as part of a role that is not specific to mental health are not captured. Primary care staff not directly employed by NHS Scotland (for example GPs in independent practices) and local authority staff working in mental health services that are delivered in partnership with the NHS are not included.

Information on staff directly employed is sourced from each NHS Board’s human resources and payroll systems. These are dynamic, operational systems and data can change over time. 

Related statistics

PSD Scotland release quarterly Accredited Official Statistics on the NHS Scotland workforce, the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) workforce and the Psychology services workforce – see the latest publications.

The mental health workforce is a subgroup of the full NHS Scotland workforce and includes staff in the CAMHS and Psychology services workforces. More detailed notes about how the mental health workforce statistics compare to the NHS Scotland, CAMHS and Psychology services statistics as at 31 March 2026 are included in the technical document.

Further Information

Pre-release access to this official statistics release was granted for a period of 5 working days prior to the date set for its publication to those people whose organisations and job titles are listed in the attached document.