Scotland loses 50,000 jobs in health and social work

ONE in ten jobs in health and social work in Scotland has disappeared over the past five years, while the number in England has grown by more than 10 per cent, a new analysis of the public sector has revealed.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics show that those employed in “human health and social work activities” in Scotland has fallen from a peak of 401,000 in 2006 to 358,000 today, a drop of 10 per cent.

That contrasts with the situation in England, where numbers have grown from 2,967,000 in 2006 to 3,333,000 now, a rise of 12 per cent.

Analysis by thinktank the Centre for Public Policy for Regions (CPPR) has also shown that, over the same period, there has been a marked fall in Scotland’s spending advantage in health and social services compared with England.

In 2006, spending per head of population per year came in at £1,766 – £252 more than south of the Border.

Scottish spending is now higher – at £2,089 per head – but that is now only £157 more than in England.

Medics last night confirmed the gradual closing of the gap on health spending between Scotland and England.

A spokesman for the British Medical Association (BMA) said: “While Scotland has had a higher spend per capita on health over the last decade or so, this has remained fairly steady, whilst the spend in England has risen, which has reduced the gap in spending.”

He added: “The BMA is concerned that any cuts to the workforce need to be planned. However, it is inevitable that there will be an impact on patient care as the cuts to nursing and other health professionals become more apparent.”

Jackie Baillie, Scottish Labour’s health spokeswoman, hit out at the Scottish Government and said: “These official figures, which show the SNP are cutting the number of health and social work staff even deeper than the Tories, makes a mockery of the SNP’s promise to ‘protect’ the health service and improve social care.”

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: “The statistics used here are not directly comparable. The spending figures are for the NHS only – not social work – and show that NHS Scotland continues to spend more per head than NHS England. The workforce figures include third sector, local authority employees and others. More than 4,000 extra people work in NHS Scotland now than in 2006 and the number of social workers has also increased.

“We are committed to ensuring that our NHS delivers top quality care, to every patient, every time. The NHS is currently in a period of transition, as the balance of care shifts towards more community care.”

Analysis: We know what has happened, but not why
By JOHN MCLAREN

THE much-revised workforce job numbers for the Scottish health & social work (H&SW) sector show a substantial fall after peaking in June 2006, despite the fact jobs in this area have risen over this period in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and NHS spend has been protected in real terms over successive public sector spending rounds.

All three of the main H&SW resource indicators – workforce, output and spending – now tell us the same story: since 2006, Scotland has been lagging behind the increase in resources for England. And this is using prime data sources. For example, the spending data is from PESA, which the UK government uses to compare regional spending and the Scottish Government uses in compiling GERS.

Why has this happened? The answer is not straightforward.

Is the application of the Barnett Formula over time narrowing Scotland’s spending advantage? This does not seem to be the case. While overall identifiable spending per head in Scotland increased by £47, the Scottish H&SW spending per head advantage fell by £95.

Have Barnett consequentials from the increases in English funding not been fully passed on to their Scottish counterparts? This is not easy to discern, due to the breadth of H&SW coverage.

It may be that Scottish H&SW “outcomes” have not been negatively affected by the relatively slower growth in Scottish resources and that the system is being more productive and efficient, which would be a good thing. However, again, difficulty in making such “outcome” comparisons means it is impossible to judge whether this is the case.

Given the importance of this area, in budgetary and political terms, it would be beneficial to gain a far greater understanding as to how Scottish H&SW resources have been shifting in recent years and what impact this has had.

• John McLaren is senior researcher at the Centre for Public Policy for Regions.