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Publication, Part of

NHS Workforce Statistics May 2020

Official statistics

Current Chapter

NHS Workforce Statistics May 2020


Summary

This report shows monthly numbers of NHS Hospital and Community Health Service (HCHS) staff working in NHS Trusts and CCGs in England (excluding primary care staff). Data is available as headcount and full-time equivalents and are available every month for 30 September 2009 onwards.

This data is an accurate summary of the validated data extracted from the NHS HR and Payroll system. Additional statistics on staff in NHS Trusts and CCGs and information for NHS Support Organisations and Central Bodies are published each:

September (showing June statistics)

December (showing September statistics)

March (showing December statistics)

June (showing March statistics)

Quarterly NHS Staff Earnings and monthly NHS Staff Sickness Absence reports and data relating to the General Practice workforce and the Independent Healthcare Provider workforce are also available via the Related Links below.

This publication features a supplementary file which shows trends in HCHS workforce data observed during the NHS response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

We welcome feedback on the methodology and tables within this publication. Please email us with your comments and suggestions, clearly stating Monthly HCHS Workforce as the subject heading, via [email protected] or 0300 303 5678.


This is the latest publication of a monthly series of the Hospital and Community Health Services (HCHS) workforce statistics using data from the Electronic Staff Record (ESR).

The figures do not include data for GPs and their staff.

Full-Time Equivalent (FTE)

is a standardised measure of the workload of an employed person and allows for the total workforce workload to be expressed in an equivalent number of full-time staff. 1.0 FTE equates to full-time work of 37.5 hours per week, an FTE of 0.5 would equate to 18.75 hours per week.

All NHS Hospital & Community Health Service (HCHS) staff - May 2019 to May 2020

1,159,771 FTE in May 2020. This is 6.0% (65,657) more than in May 2019.    

1,309,509 Headcount in May 2020. This is 5.6% (69,878) more than in May 2019.

All NHS Hospital & Community Health Service (HCHS) staff - April 2020 to May 2020

FTE rose by 6,258 between April and May 2020, compared to a decrease of 1,629 between April and May 2019.

Of the 6,258 increase over this period, 5,767 were in the Support to doctors, nurses & midwives staff group with a further 1,442 in the Foundation Doctor Year 1 staff group.

Professionally qualified clinical staff*

Professionally qualified clinical staff make up over half (52.5%) of the HCHS workforce (609,171 FTE) in May 2020. This is 5.1% (29,723) more than in May 2019.     * This group includes all HCHS doctors, qualified nurses and health visitors, midwives, qualified scientific, therapeutic and technical staff and qualified ambulance staff

679,409 Headcount in May 2020. This is 4.8% (31,135) more than in May 2019.                                                              




Last edited: 19 August 2020 7:45 am