Primary Care Workforce Quarterly Update, 31 March 2024, Experimental Statistics

New functionality recently introduced to the National Workforce Reporting Service (NWRS) allows PCNs to tell us whether their Occupational Therapists are Advanced Practitioners and whether they are Mental Health Practitioners. Previously, only the Advanced Practitioner option was available.

Consequently, from this release, the existing roles (Occupational Therapists and Advanced Occupational Therapist Practitioners) are split into into the following roles in the raw data and in tables which present figures calculated from NWRS data alone:

• Advanced Occupational Therapist Practitioners - (Non-mental Health Practitioners)
• Advanced Occupational Therapist Practitioners - (Mental Health Practitioners)
• Occupational Therapists - (Non-mental Health Practitioners)
• Occupational Therapists - (Mental Health Practitioners)

In tables presenting figures calculated from only NWRS data, the Occupational Therapists who are not Advanced Practitioners are grouped with other Therapist roles and so are included in the figures for Therapists - (Non-mental Health Practitioners) or Therapists - (Mental Health Practitioners), depending on their mental health practitioner status.

In the collated figure calculations, all roles flagged as Mental Health Practitioners in NWRS are grouped as Mental Health Practitioners, to align with the ARRS claims data, in which Mental Health Practitioner is a standalone role. Therefore, Advanced Occupational Therapist Practitioners - (Mental Health Practitioners) and Occupational Therapists - (Mental Health Practitioners) are now included in the Mental Health Practitioner job role in collated full-time equivalent (FTE) tables and the accompanying CSV.  In those files, FTE figures for Advanced Occupational Therapist Practitioners and Therapists - Occupational Therapists relate to those members of staff who are not mental health practitioners.

ARRS roles expanded

From April 2024, the job roles Health Support Worker and Healthcare Assistant can be claimed for through the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme. Therefore, from the release of this series relating to 30 June 2024, these job roles will form part of the collated FTE calculations.

Renaming of IAPT roles

Prior to April 2024, High Intensity Therapists and Psychological Wellbeing Practitioners were grouped as IAPT Staff in the tables which present figures calculated from NWRS alone, and presented separately in the collated FTE tables and CSV. From the release of statistics relating to 30 June 2024 onwards, both job roles will be renamed as NHS Talking Therapies Therapists and will be presented as such in all publication resources. The same applies to the corresponding Trainee roles.