Health workforce projections 2019-2020: data collection timetable

NHS Boards should take a snapshot on 10 April 2019 for their own baseline. This will match the same point in time ISD take the snapshot for national statistics data as at 31 March 2018.

Data collection for 2018-2019 will follow the timescale as below:

Date	Task
28 February 2019	Issue link to projections web platform to NHS boards
10 April 2019	NHS boards take snapshot extract
May / June 2019	Web platform will be disabled for a max of two weeks so ASD can update the template to include published National Statistics workforce data as at 31 March 2017
28 June 2019*	Completed on-line template authorised and submitted.
July / August 2019	Analysis and two-way feedback between NHS boards and ASD with regards the on-line process
27 August 2019	SG report on national / regional projections, including general overview and emerging themes, nationally published.
October 2019	Wash up & focus on improvements and/or adaptations for next year

* Completed templates should be signed off by the NHS Board Chief Executive. In the case of Nursing and Midwifery and ANP workforce projections, the NHS Board Nurse Director and ANP Director respectfully, should have professional oversight and have endorsed these projections as part of the overall NHS Board Workforce Plan.

Further information 

Each NHS board will publish their respective workforce plan by the end of 2019. 

All staff group definitions in this publication match the ISD Scotland national statistics publication on NHSScotland workforce. 

The publication of NHSScotland’s workforce statistics is currently in transition from ISD Scotland to NHS Education for Scotland (NES). The next three publications are due to be released on the following dates: 

• 3 September 2019 (workforce as at 30 June 2019) ISD 
• 3 December 2019 (workforce as at 30 September 2019) NES/ISD
• 4 March 2020 (workforce as at 31 December 2019) NES/ISD.

Please note that the senior management definition within this national target is different from the management (non AfC) figure used in both the ISD national statistics publication on NHSScotland workforce, and the Scottish Government publication on NHSScotland workforce projections. 

This publication provides an explanation of these differences.

Part 1 of the National Health and Social Care Workforce Plan was published in June 2017 and sets out how the Scottish Government will work with partners to secure sustainable NHS staffing. 

Part 2 of the Plan, published jointly with COSLA was published in December 2017 and introduces a framework for improving workforce planning for social care in Scotland. 

Part 3 of the Plan was published in April 2018 and sets out our strategy to recruit new and retain existing GPs, along with our plans for the wider primary care workforce. 

The next iteration of this work is the production of a fully integrated health and social care workforce plan, which will be published later this year. 

A new National Health and Social Care Workforce Planning Programme Board, has been established to support implementation of the recommendations arising from the 3 parts of the Plan already published. 

This approach will enable different workforce planning systems to take stock, and move forward incrementally towards improved integrated planning across the full Health and Social Care landscape.