Regional staffing gap grows by 70%

The gaps in coverage of mental health staff between regions have grown significantly in the past 14 years, researchers have pointed out.

Work by academics at the University of East Anglia also found that, while mental health staffing has risen over the past decade, this was at half the rate of the overall NHS clinical staff.

Mental health staff grew by 9.6 per cent from 20219 to 2023, they said, compared to a 19 per cent rise in all clinicians employed by NHS trusts and foundation trusts.

There was a reduction during austerity, between 2010 and 2014, then stabilisation. Numbers have grown since 2019, but only marginally passed 2009 levels.

The analysis also raised concerns that the rise in increased staffing was being driven by less qualified staff.

Meanwhile, the work published in The British Journal of Mental Health Nursing, reveals significant regional differences, which have widened significantly over the 14 years covered (see table and chart below).

For example, the study found the London workforce – on a per 100,000 population basis – had grown by 35 per cent since 2009 and at more than twice the rate of the South West, which was the next best served at 13 per cent. Meanwhile, the East of England saw a reduction of 4 per cent.

In 2009, the East of England’s mental health staff coverage was 80 per cent of that in London (189 per 100,000 versus 237); but by 2023 the EoE had 57 per cent of London’s coverage (182 to 318).

The gap in staffing per 100,000 between the two regions grew from 48 to 81 – a 68.8 per cent growth.

Author Peter Beazley said the NHS was publishing whole-time equivalent headcount data but not adjusting for population growth. He said: “Adjusting for population provides a fairer comparison, not least because the growth in population over recent years has been quite unevenly distributed over the country.

“Here at UEA, we train a number of mental health professionals, and I felt motivated to conduct this analysis after hearing of issues about unmet needs first-hand from our trainees and supervisors working in the region.

“Plans to develop the mental health workforce further should account for the regional differences observed, but should also consider anticipated population growth.”

Andy Bell, chief executive at the Centre for Mental Health, told HSJ that recent increases in mental health staffing have “closed the gap but not quickly enough to keep up with demand”.

He said: “The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan has set ambitious targets for the number of people who will need to be trained and employed in mental health services over the next ten years.

“However, it’s clear that this will require not just ‘more of the same’ but a workforce with a more diverse range of roles and skills, better representation of the community it serves, and action to bolster staff retention.”

An NHS England spokesman said: “England’s NHS mental health workforce is growing and is supporting more people than ever before, with a record five million people in contact with our services last year.

“Demand for support has increased significantly since the pandemic and we recognise there is still more to do as we work with the government to make NHS mental health services fit for the future.”

It comes as some trusts report significantly long waits for treatment. In September, one trust revealed seven-year waiting times for adult ADHD assessments.