How big is our health and social care workforce?

By Joe Brame, Healthcare Analyst

Up and down the country people have been praising and applauding key workers in the NHS and adult care sectors as they help to tackle the covid-19 pandemic. While the majority of the workforce is dealing with the different task of adapting to permanent home working, our National Health Service and independently employed care workforce are on the front line risking their own health to protect that of others. 

Combined, both the NHS and care sector employs close to 3 million people across the UK - 1.3 million in the NHS and 1.6 million in the adult care sector. This represents about 9% of the UK’s employed labour force and certainly puts the scale of this mammoth effort in context. A huge well done to everyone in involved.

While we all recognise the role being played by NHS, and especially critical care hospital doctors and nurses, perhaps we don’t all recognise the equal effort played by those working in the independent care home sector. The residential care sector employs around 600,000 people across the UK and around 80% of these workers are employed by independent care operators. Further to this an estimated 450,000 people are involved directly in the day to day care of vulnerable residents either as nurses or carers. This is equivalent to the number of doctors and nurses employed by the NHS. 

While we should of course praise the resilience and adaptability of the NHS in this current pandemic, we also need to recognise the huge role played by private sector in accommodating and protecting our elderly population during this difficult period of time. With mortality rates for covid-19 reportedly close to 15% for over 80s, independent operators have a huge responsibility in preventing deaths and continuing their normal care duties. 

Hopefully, one legacy of this pandemic will be greater recognition of the vital role played by all health and social care workforce, including the NHS and private sector care operators.