The Mental Health Workforce

Although before 2016 there were increases in the number of psychiatrists in England, there are challenges facing the profession, which are resulting in a shrinking workforce. First, attrition rates among consultant psychiatrists aged 53 or below have been substantially higher than average (CfWI, 2014). Second, almost one in five doctors in training failed to progress from core psychiatry training into higher speciality training (CfWI, 2014). Although there had been an increase in recruitment of first year core training, the average accepted offer of higher speciality training was 18% less. This problem was particularly observed in old age and child and adolescent psychiatry.