Information regarding community link workers: FOI release

Information requested

1. The number of community link workers employed by NHS Scotland broken down by i) region ii) specialism.

2. Number over time broken down nationally, and year on year since 2007.

Response

1. The Scottish Government only holds data on additional Community Link Workers (CLWs) recruited as part of the 2016 manifesto commitment to recruit at least 250 CLWs by the end of 2021-22.

Funding for the CLW programme comes from the Primary Care Improvement Fund (PCIF). The Scottish Government has not prescribed a specific employment model, and so it varies between Integration authority, with some HSCPs commissioning the Third Sector to deliver, and in others Health Boards are the direct employers of CLWs.

Community Link Worker programmes are being rolled out at different rates across Scotland, and it is for local areas to plan how these staff members are utilised and in which GP practices they work, based on their local needs and priorities.

The data provided here is Management Information provided by Integration Authorities to inform progress against PCIF spending. This is information that is used in the normal course of business to inform operational delivery, policy development or the management of organisational performance. Whilst the data has gone through a process of quality assurance, it is not subject to the same level of validation and checking as Official Statistics. Data provided is also subject to revision.

Breakdown of CLW to region from available trackers:

Service 6: Community link workers	TOTAL headcount staff in post as at 31 March 2018	Total as at March 2019	Total as at March 2020	Total as at March 21	Projected total March 22
Aberdeen City	0	19	22	23	23
Aberdeenshire	0	0	0	0	40
Angus	0	0	4	8	8
Argyll and Bute	0	0	0	1	3
Borders	0	0	5	5	5
Dumfries and Galloway	0	0	4	10	10
Dundee City	0	0	4	4	4
Arran and Ayrshire	11	13	15	19	18.5
East Dunbartonshire	0	0	3	3	3
East Lothian	3	4	4	11	11
East Renfrewshire	0	4	4	4	4
Edinburgh City	14	17	21	23	23
Fife	0	3	3	3	3
Forth Valley	0	0	0	0	8
Glasgow City	0	18	38	43	83
Inverclyde	6	6	6	6	6
Lanarkshire	0	0	2	13	20
Midlothian	0	0	0	0	2
Moray	6	6	6	6	6
North Highland	0	0	0	0	0
Orkney Islands	2	2	2	2	3
Perth and Kinross	0	0	0	2	3
Renfrewshire	10	13	13	13	13
Shetland	2	2	2	2	3.4
West Dunbartonshire	0	0	3	3	6
West Lothian	0	0	14	14	14
Western Isles	0	0	0	0	0
Total	54	107	175	218	323

There has been some scaling back on previous projected workforce numbers due to Covid related reasons of limited opportunities to provide support remotely; staff being redeployed elsewhere; contractual delays, but figures remain on track to recover by March 2022.

2. The Community Link Workers (CLW) are not specialist practitioners, but generalist practitioners, based in or aligned to a GP practice or Cluster who work directly with patients to help them navigate and engage with wider services. Their purpose is to improve patient health and well-being, reduce pressure on general practice and tackle health inequalities.

Any data prior to the 2016 manifesto, or of similar held specialist posts employed outwith this programme, would be held by Health and Social Care Partnerships.

3. See 1&2

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