PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Allied Health Professions (6 December 2023)

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate she has made of the number of full time equivalent (a) physiotherapists, (b) occupational therapists, (c) speech and language therapists and (d) neurologists working in the NHS on average across each of the last five years.

Asked by:
Karin Smyth (Labour)

The following table shows the number of full-time equivalent physiotherapists, occupational therapists, speech and language therapists, and neurologists working in National Health Service trusts and other core NHS organisations in England, in August 2018 to 2023:

	August 2018	August 2019	August 2020	August 2021	August 2022	August 2023
Physiotherapists	19,010	19,626	20,606	21,346	22,023	23,330
Occupational Therapist	14,989	15,359	15,864	15,953	16,006	16,669
Speech and Language Therapists	6,057	6,272	6,366	6,660	6,819	7,111
Doctors working in the specialty of Neurology	1,379	1,444	1,533	1,602	1,649	1,771
Of which consultants	789	796	838	858	888	928

Source: NHS Digital Hospital and Community Health Service Workforce Statistics

Notes: The information is based on the monthly NHS workforce statistics published by NHS England. The data includes staff employed by NHS trusts and other core NHS organisations. It excludes staff directly employed general practitioner surgeries, local authorities, and other providers such as community interest companies and private providers.

Answered by:
Andrew Stephenson (Conservative)
11 December 2023