Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many allied health professionals are working in the public sector; and if he will estimate the number of allied health professionals working in (a) the private sector, (b) the third sector, (c) local authorities and (d) schools.
The latest monthly workforce statistics for September 2014 published by the Health and Social Care Information Centre on 25 November showed that there were 66,090 full time equivalent qualified allied health professionals (AHPs) working in the National Health Service in England. The number of AHPs working in the private sector, the third sector, local authorities, schools and the voluntary sector is not held centrally.
AHPs are art, drama and music therapists, dieticians, occupational therapists, orthoptists, orthotists/prosthetists, paramedics, physiotherapists, podiatrists, radiographers, and speech and language therapists. Each profession works in a variety of settings including the NHS, schools, prisons, voluntary and private sector, and will have a differing percentage of their profession working in the private and voluntary sector.