This is an Official Statistics Publication

As of 1st October 2019, NHS Education for Scotland (NES) has taken responsibility for some national workforce data, statistical & intelligence functions. NHS Education for Scotland (NES) is NHSScotland’s education and training body. It is the authoritative source of information on the people who work for NHSScotland. NES became an accredited provider of Official Statistics in December 2019 and as such this release is produced in accordance with UK Statistics Authority’s Code of Practice for Statistics. NES voluntarily applied the Code of Practice for Statistics for the publication released on 3 December 2019.

1 Executive Summary

As at 31 March 2024:

• There were 1,526.5 WTE (1745 Headcount) staff in post within NHSScotland CAMHS, an increase of 133.5% since 2006, 53.6% since 31 March 2016, 15.6% since last year and 1.6% since last quarterly census. This is an increase of 101.2% within the Speech and Language Therapy professional group, 23% within the Nursing professional group and 4.9% within the Psychology professional group and decrease of 7.9% within the Medical professional group since last year. Of the total staff in post, 48.7 WTE (3.2%) were on maternity/paternity leave and 23.3 WTE (1.5%) were on long term sick leave.
• There were 70.3% CAMHS staff working in whole-time posts and 29.7% working in part-time posts, an increase of 15% in whole-time posts and 17% in part-time posts since last year’s census. Within the Medical professional group, approximately half (56.4%) of the workforce worked part-time, compared to 45.9% in the Psychology professional group and 15.2% in the Nursing professional group.
• There were 79.1 WTE vacancies advertised which is a decrease of 50.3% vacancies since March 2023 census. 35.5% of vacancies were in the Psychology professional group,33.4% of vacancies were in the Nursing professional group and 8.2% were in the Occupational Therapy professional group.
• Of the total vacancies advertised, 65.1% were advertised for less than 3 months, 17.8% were advertised for 3-6 months and 17.1% were advertised for more than 6 months. A further 21 WTE were approved for recruitment but not yet advertised and 11.5 WTE were sent for approval.
• Of the total 79.1 WTE vacancies advertised, 25.3% (20 WTE) were advertised as new posts, 70.3% (55.6 WTE) were advertised as replacement posts,0.6 % (0.5 WTE) were advertised as Maternity/Paternity cover, 1.3% (1WTE) were advertised as secondment posts and 2.5% (2WTE) were advertised as Other category. The total vacancy rate of 4.9% has decreased compared to 6.1% for the last quarterly census and 10.8% for last year’s census.

2 Introduction

Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) provide essential assessment, care and treatment of children and young people (and their parents/carers) who are experiencing serious mental health problems. CAMHS are usually delivered by multi-disciplinary teams, including psychiatrists, psychologists, nurses, social workers, child and adolescent therapists and others (see the Glossary for descriptions). They also have an important role in supporting the mental health capability of the wider network of children’s services.

Significant funding has been invested in CAMHS since 2009 for workforce and trainee expansion. Further information on CAMHS can be found in the background information .This report presents the following information in relation to CAMHS services as at 31 March 2024:

• Clinical Staff in post (overall and by NHS Board, professional group, contract type, age group, gender, contract term, target age, area of work, psychiatric inpatient hours, absence and employee turnover)

• Vacancies

• Staff in training

Workforce figures are presented as headcount (actual numbers of staff) and whole-time equivalent (WTE), which adjusts the figures to take account of part-time working. This information is used by NES, the Scottish Government and NHS Boards to support local, regional and national workforce planning; to support educational training and planning; and to track the Scottish Government’s investment in the expansion of CAMHS workforce and training numbers. The source data are collected and verified by CAMHS lead clinicians using the National CAMHS Workforce Information Database held centrally at NSS. NHS Education for Scotland work closely with these clinicians to ensure a high level of accuracy. Workforce information is shown as at the current census date and is available annually at September census dates from 2006. Quarterly information is available from March 2011 onwards.

In conjunction with this report, comprehensive workforce data at 31 March 2024 are shared across the following outputs:

2.1 Dashboards

• The CAMHS workforce dashboard presents quarterly data on staff in post in NHSScotland CAMHS and information on staff in training and vacancies. These report data from 2006, as well as data from an initial pilot collection in 2005.

• The dashboards include staff WTE and headcount, WTE per 100,000 of the population, psychiatric inpatient hours, target age, area of work, gender, contract type, grade, contract term, absence, age, employee turnover, vacancies and staff in training in the workforce. Staff in post data are available as chart visuals or tables. Via the CAMHS Workforce Dashboards, users can quickly gauge shifts in trends and draw comparisons across NHS Boards and regions.

2.2 Data tables

The CAMHS workforce data tables presents quarterly data on staff in post in NHSScotland CAMHS and information on staff in training and vacancies. This includes data from 2006, as well as data from an initial pilot collection in 2005.

• Supplementary long term trend data for staff in post and trainees.

• Quarterly updates to staff in post tables.

• Quarterly updates to vacancies tables.

A full list of the data published and a timetable of future releases are available on our webpages.

2.3 Terms used in this document

Workforce statistics are routinely reported as headcount and whole-time equivalent(WTE), which adjusts the headcount figure to take account of part-time working.

3 Staff in Post

3.1 Staff WTE and Headcount

There were 1,526.5 WTE (1745 Headcount) staff in post within NHSScotland CAMHS, an increase of 133.5% since 2006, 53.6% since 31 March 2016, 15.6% since last year and 1.6% since last quarterly census. Of the total staff in post, 48.7 WTE (3.2%) were on maternity/paternity leave and 23.3 WTE (1.5%) were on long term sick leave. NHSScotland CAMHS staff in post and staff in post excluding Psychiatric Inpatient hours trend is illustrated in Figure 1.

Figure 1: Trend of NHSScotland CAMHS Staff in Post (WTE)

 

1.Of the total staff in post, 48.7 WTE (3.2%) were on maternity/paternity leave and 23.3 WTE (1.5%) were on long term sick leave.

3.2 Region and Health Boards

Between March 2023 and March 2024, there was an increase of 26.5% WTE in the West region which includes Health Boards NHS Lanarkshire, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, NHS Forth Valley, NHS Dumfries and Galloway and NHS Ayrshire and Arran, an increase of 11.9% WTE in the North region, which includes NHS Grampian, NHS Highland, NHS Orkney, NHS Shetlands, NHS Tayside and NHS Western Isles and an increase of 0.2% WTE in the East region, which includes NHS Borders, NHS Fife and NHS Lothian. Figure 2 illustrates the WTE of CAMHS staff by regions trends in NHSScotland.

Figure 2. NHSScotland CAMHS staff (WTE) by Region

3.3 NHSScotland CAMHS Workforce per 100,000 of the Population

The age of the population served by CAMHS in NHSScotland vary between NHS boards. In certain NHS boards, services are provided to individuals aged up to 16 only, whilst other boards offer services to those aged up to 18 years. However, this may change in the future, as a result of recent recommendations that treatment that should be provided to young people, as required, until their eighteenth birthday. Please see background information and changes to recording of CAMHS staff group for further information.

Figure 3 illustrates the number of CAMHS staff employed per 100,000 population by region and health board as at 31 March 2024 compared to 31 March 2023 and 31 March 2016. Between March 2023 and March 2024, there was an increase of 15.6% WTE per 100,000 of the population in NHSScotland. Within the West region, the largest increase was 33.6% in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and 28.9% in NHS Lanarkshire. In the North region, the largest increase was 28.8% in NHS Highland and 25.2% in NHS Orkney. There was an increase of 24.3% in NHS Borders and 7.5% in NHS Fife and decrease of 4% in NHS Lothian.

Figure 3: NHSScotland CAMHS by NHS Boards (WTE per 100,000 of the population) as at 31 March 2016, 31 March 2021 and 31 March 2023 census.

1.(https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/statistics-and-data/statistics/statistics-by-theme/population/population-estimates/mid-year-population-estimates/mid-2021 (March 2024 data are based on 2021 mid population estimate))

4 Characteristics of the Workforce

This section provides information about the characteristics of the workforce. For more detailed information on workforce characteristics please refer to the background tables and dashboards.

4.1 Professional Group

As at 31 March 2024, three professional groups accounted for 71.9% of the WTE CAMHS workforce: Nursing (42.3%), Psychology (24.1%) and Medical (5.5%). For descriptions of each professional group and the training required to enter these professions please refer to the Summary of Professional Groups within CAMHS This is an increase of 101.2% within the Speech and Language Therapy professional group, 23% within the Nursing professional group and 4.9% within the Psychology professional group and decrease of 7.9% within the Medical professional group since last year. Of the total Nursing professional group, 82.1% worked in services excluding Psychiatric Inpatient units and 17.9% worked in Psychiatric Inpatient units. In Psychology professional group, 96.2% worked in services excluding Psychiatric Inpatient units and 3.8% worked in Psychiatric Inpatient units. In the Medical professional group, 90.8% worked in services excluding Psychiatric Inpatient units and 9.2% worked in Psychiatric Inpatient units.

Figure 4: NHSScotland CAMHS staff in post (WTE) by Professional Group

1.From September 2009, staff working at Agenda for Change Bands 2, 3 and 4 are excluded from the professional group ‘Nursing’

4.2 Age Group

The median age of staff in March 2024 census was 40. The largest number of staff employed were in the age category 35-39 (16.3%) and 30-34 (15.3%). Figure 5 illustrates the percentage of headcount of staff in post in NHSScotland CAMHS by age category. There was an increase of 30.2% in 60 and over age category since last year.

Figure 5. Staff in Post in NHSScotland CAMHS by Age category (Headcount)

4.3 Contract Type

There were 70.3% CAMHS staff working in whole-time posts and 29.7% working in part-time posts, an increase of 15% in whole-time posts and 17% in part-time posts since last year’s census. Within the Medical professional group, approximately half (56.4%) of the workforce worked part-time, compared to 45.9% in the Psychology professional group and 15.2% in the Nursing professional group.

Figure 6. NHSScotland CAMHS Staff in Post (WTE) by Contract Type