Completing the picture
Just 16 per cent of the NHS workforce provides the infrastructure support necessary to keep hospitals, surgeries and NHS organisations running effectively. 84 per cent of NHS staff are involved directly in patient care (NHS workforce census, September 2004).
70 per cent of NHS managers and administrators are female (NHS hospital and community health services non-medical staff in England: 1992-2002, Department of Health, June 2003).
In 2003, the average salary for NHS administrative and clerical staff was £14,700 (House of Commons written answer, 9 June 2004).
The proportion of the NHS budget spent on management is just 3.9 per cent, down from 5 per cent in 1998 (Department of Health, March 2004).
Since September 2003, the NHS has recruited over three times as many more new doctors than new managers and over four-and-a-half times as many more new nurses than new managers (NHS workforce census, September 2004).
The NHS workforce in England 2004:
General practice staff 7%
Doctors 9%
Scientific, therapeutic and technical staff 10%
Support to clinical staff 28%
Nurses 30%
Ambulance staff 1%
Managers and senior managers 3%
Clerical, administrative, maintenance and works staff 13%
