Learning Disability and Mental Health Services: Nurses

(asked on 6th November 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many (a) mental health and (b) learning disability nurses were employed in the NHS in each year from 2010 to 2020.


Answered by
Helen Whately Portrait
Helen Whately
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
This question was answered on 17th December 2020

NHS Digital publishes Hospital and Community Health Services (HCHS) workforce statistics. These include staff working in hospital trusts and clinical commissioning groups but not staff working in primary care, local authorities or other providers.

The following table shows the number of mental health and learning disability nurses, full time equivalent (FTE) employed in the National Health Service as at September each year along with the latest figure as of July 2020.

Mental health nurses (FTE)

Learning disabilities nurses (FTE)

September 2010

40,247

5,137

September 2011

39,024

4,667

September 2012

38,135

4,311

September 2013

37,397

4,035

September 2014

36,581

3,776

September 2015

35,671

3,577

September 2016

35,488

3,442

September 2017

35,390

3,305

September 2018

35,835

3,234

September 2019

36,696

3,186

July 2020

37,421

3,217

Source: NHS HCHS monthly workforce statistics, NHS Digital - July 2020

Notes:

Mental health and learning disability service provision is also commissioned by the NHS from private sector providers. The figures do not reflect staffing in the private sector.

Further information, including on different methodologies for counting the mental health workforce, is published by NHS Digital at the following link:

https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/nhs-workforce-statistics/december-2018

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