• 94% of the workforce are employed, 6% are self-employed
• 62% of the workforce work full-time, 38% part-time
• 78% of the workforce are female
• 29% of the workforce are aged 35-44 years
• the workforce is predominantly white (89%)
• highly qualified workforce – 24% hold degree level or equivalent qualifications as highest qualifications compared to 18% in the economy as a whole
• concentration of qualifications at top and bottom ends of qualifications continuum
• gaps in literacy, numeracy, language and IT skills are considered significant
• rapid employment growth between 1999-2004 (13%) relative to the whole economy (4%)
• 228 doctors per 1000 Registered nurses
   

42% of the health care workforce are broadly defined as clinical practitioners and scientists, 37% work in clinical and technical support, 19% in management and administration and 3% in estates and maintenance functions.

Source: Skills for Health 2006 and Skills for Health 2005

For an economic profile of the health and social care sector see:

Future employment growth rates in the health care sector are expected to slow down over the next 10 years, but these rates are still among the highest across all sectors and above figures for the whole economy.

Over the next 10 years, the health sector has a comparatively high replacement demand ratio and increasing employment levels.  This will result in a total recruitment requirement of almost 50% of current employment for the next 10 years.

Annual job increases of around 1% are forecast for the UK health sector to 2014, translating into some 200,000 additional jobs.  Taking into account the replacement demand for staff expected to leave the health care sector, recruitment levels are forecast to reach around 1 million between 2004 and 2014.

Over the next two decades an expansion of just under 300,000 health care staff may be required.  It is forecast that by 2020 an additional 62,000 doctors, 108,000 nurses, 45,000 professionally qualified therapists and 74,000 health care assistants would be required in the ‘solid progress’ scenario.

The NHS Plan 2000 has paved the way for organisational reforms and an unprecedented workforce expansion.  For more information see organisational reforms and recruitment.  In England, national targets have been set for over 100,000 additional staff (over 2001/2002 baseline figures) by 2008, including:

• 15,000 consultants and GPs
• 35,000 nurses
• 30,000 therapists and scientists
• 27,000 health care assistants

Similarly, national targets apply in Scotland (an additional 600 consultants by 2006, 12,000 extra nurses and midwives by 2007 and 1,500 more allied health professionals by 2007) and in Wales (an increase of 6,000 nurses, 700 consultants and doctors and 2,000 other NHS staff by 2010).

Source: Skills for Health 2006, Working Futures 2006, Skills for Health 2005 and Wanless 2002

For information on organisational reforms and recruitment in the sector see:

Source: Skills for Health 2005, figure 2.1.  Based on the Winter 2004 Labour Force Survey.

For more detail on current and future employment levels, plus employment status of workforce see:

Despite the fact that the sector has experienced a significant growth in employment and growth in the highly qualified component of its workforce, employer organisations are still reporting specific skills shortages and internal skills gaps.

• England - 7% of establishments reported skills shortage vacancies, compared to 6% for the whole economy; 26% reported internal skills gaps, compared to 20% for the whole economy
• Wales - 18% of vacancies are skills shortage vacancies, compared to 26% across the whole Welsh economy; 31% of firms reported internal skills gaps, compared to 19% of firms across the economy
• Scotland - 12% of vacancies are skills shortage vacancies, compared to 25% across the whole Scottish  economy; 21% of firms reported gaps, which is similar to those across the whole economy
• Northern Ireland - 4% of vacancies are skills shortage vacancies, compared to 19% across the whole Northern Ireland economy; firms reporting internal skills gaps are similar to those across the whole economy

The major areas of skills gaps in England were reported to be: communication skills; customer handling; and problem solving skills. In Wales, IT skills gaps were by far the most prevalent, whereas in Scotland 45% of firms reported skills lacking in team working and problem solving.

Skills needs by occupations are more likely to be central to the specific performance of the job and are the result of a lack of experience.  For example:

• the skills most lacking among managers and senior officials are management skills
• communication skills are in high demand among the associate professional and technical and the personal service groups of occupations

Source: Skills for Health 2006

For more information on workforce development and drivers plus future skills needs in the health sector see:

A range of challenges and gaps in achieving the objective of a more flexible workforce based on competence are highlighted and include:

• the diversity of professions and occupations across health and social care
• the diversity of employment arrangements, cultures and resources for skills and learning in the sector
• skills shortages and gaps across a number of occupations
• inconsistent workforce data and workforce planning
• continuing barriers to skills development resulting from differences of funding across different workforce groups
• new arrangements for modernising health care careers (and training)
• prospective reforms in regulating professional and other staff in the healthcare workforce
• the need to support access to literacy, numeracy, language and IT skills
• the challenges of delivering innovative learning design solutions

Source: Skills for Health 2006