The health sector includes work in hospitals, medical and dental work, general human health occupations (blood banks, medical laboratories) and ambulance transport.
Social work activities include supporting individuals and families, staffing homes/hostels for children, the aged, disabled and the homeless and day care provision and activities.
The UK health and social sector employs approximately 3.5 million people. The National Health Authority (NHS) is the single largest employer. Three quarters of all employees work in the public sector (NHS trust or local authority). Some key statistics about the workforce include:
Private and voluntary providers of health care play a vital and growing role in this sector.
The health sector continues to suffer shortages of nurses and doctors.
Employment has grown rapidly. This is expected to continue. In the years between 2007-2017, 400 thousand additional jobs are anticipated. Many more people will be needed to replace those who retire or leave the sector for other reasons. However, key decisions about the new government's public spending cuts have yet to be made public.
Managers and senior officials have become more important in the NHS. Their share of the total number of jobs is still on the increase. There has been a decrease in the number of workers in administrative, clerical and secretarial occupations.
The demand for health and social care will be driven by a number of factors including the growing elderly population and rising expectations about what care should be available.
| Position | Annual salary |
|---|---|
| Medical practitioners Psychologists Pharmacists/pharmacologists Ophthalmic opticians Dental practitioners |
£48,685 |
| Hospital and health service managers Pharmacy managers Healthcare practice managers Social services managers Residential and day care managers |
£37,437 |
| Social workers | £32,835 |
| Nurses and midwives Paramedics Medical radiographers Podiatrists/chiropodists Dispensing opticians Pharmaceutical dispensers Medical and dental technicians Physiotherapists Occupational therapists Speech and language therapists Youth and community workers Housing and welfare officers |
£24,165 |
| Nursing auxiliaries and assistants Ambulance staff (excluding paramedics) Dental nurses Houseparents and residential wardens Care assistants and home carers |
£12,139 |
| Hospital porters | £8,907 |
The salaries shown are annual, median, gross pay rates. Gross means before tax and other deductions. The median figure is the middle salary in the range of what all people in that category of job earn.
Source: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings 2009, O.N.S., © Crown Copyright.
Many people choose to commute (regularly travelling between home and work) to get the job they want. This will show you where most of the jobs in this sector are in the region.
| Bath and North East Somerset | 11,846 |
| Bristol | 30,812 |
| North Somerset | 9,939 |
| South Gloucestershire | 11,413 |
Annual Business Inquiry Employee Analysis 2009, O.N.S., © Crown Copyright.
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