NHS workforce appointments from shortlisting
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- 1. Navigate to Main facts and figures section
- 2. Navigate toBy ethnicity and area section
- 3. Navigate toBy ethnicity and area section
- 4. Navigate toBy ethnicity and type of trust section
- 5. Navigate toBy ethnicity and type of trust section
- 6. Navigate to Methodology section
- 7. Navigate to Data sources section
- 8. Navigate to Download the data section
1. Main facts and figures
New data for the period 2020/21 is available if you download the data. The charts, tables and commentary on this page cover the period 2018/19 and do not include the new data.
In 2018/19:
- overall, White applicants who were shortlisted for an NHS job in England in 2018/19 were 1.46 times as likely to be appointed compared with applicants from the Other ethnic group (all other ethnic groups combined)
- the same pattern was found in all 7 regions, although the difference in the likelihood of White shortlisted applicants being appointed to that of those from the Other ethnic group was largest in London and smallest in the South West of England region
- White shortlisted applicants were more likely to be appointed than those from the Other ethnic group in all 4 types of NHS trust, with the relative difference largest in community provider trusts
- shortlisted applicants from the Other ethnic group were least likely to be appointed in London (compared with the other 6 regions), and in community provider trusts, (compared with the other 3 types of trust)
Things you need to know
The data presents information about only 1 stage in the application process – how likely applicants from the 2 broad ethnic groups were to be appointed after being shortlisted. It is possible that people from different ethnic groups are more or less successful at other stages of the application process. Because this data does not include the numbers of applicants for posts, it is not possible to say how likely applicants from each broad group were to be shortlisted, or how likely they were to be appointed following their application.
Shortlisted applicants who were offered a job but turned it down are not counted as being appointed, and are therefore not included in this data.
Applicants reported their ethnicity on their job application form. Those who did not report their ethnicity are not included in calculating the percentages. We do not know how many applicants did not declare their ethnicity, nor whether applicants from certain ethnic groups were more or less likely to declare their ethnicity when applying for posts, or if non-reporting was higher in some trusts than in others.
The vacancies available in each trust, region and trust type vary by types of role and grade. Certain roles or grades may have a higher likelihood of appointment from shortlisting, and people from some ethnic groups may be more likely to apply for these.
You can get the data for each trust if you download the data. Across trusts, there is a wide variation in the percentage of applicants who were appointed from shortlisting in both ethnic groups. This may reflect differences in recruitment practices, or be due to other factors. Caution should be used when the number of people shortlisted from either ethnic groups within a trust is small, as the likelihood of a successful appointment will be affected by small changes in the numbers appointed.
The percentages are based on data from the 224 NHS trusts (out of 227) who provided and confirmed the relevant data.
What the data measures
This data measures the percentage of shortlisted applicants for NHS jobs who were subsequently appointed for the job during the 2018/19 financial year (1 April 2018 to 31 March 2019). The data includes both internal and external applicants, and is broken down by ethnicity into:
- White applicants
- applicants from all other ethnic groups combined – referred to here as the ‘Other’ ethnic group, and as ‘BME (Black and Minority Ethnic)’ in NHS England WRES reports
To show how much more or less likely a White applicant was to be appointed following shortlisting than an applicant from the Other ethnic group, the ‘relative likelihood’ is also given in the download file and commentary. This is calculated by dividing the percentage of shortlisted White applicants who were appointed by the percentage of shortlisted applicants from the Other ethnic group who were appointed.
A relative likelihood of 2.0 would mean that a White shortlisted applicant was twice as likely as a shortlisted applicant from the Other ethnic group to be appointed. A relative likelihood of 0.5 would mean that a White shortlisted applicant was half as likely to be appointed as a shortlisted applicant from the Other ethnic group.
Data is also presented for 4 broad regions in England and the 4 types of NHS trust.
The regions in England are grouped as follows:
- London (covering Greater London)
- Midlands and East (covering the West Midlands, the East Midlands and the East)
- North (covering the North West, the North East, and Yorkshire and the Humber)
- South (covering the South East and the South West)
The types of trust are:
- acute
- ambulance
- community provider
- mental health
The data does not include job applicants for:
- public bodies like Public Health England and the Care Quality Commission
- independent (non-NHS) healthcare providers
- social enterprises
- clinical commissioning groups
The ethnic categories used in this data
For this data, ethnicity was categorised into 2 broad ethnic groups to be consistent with the rest of the 2019 NHS Workforce Race Equality Standard report, and to increase the reliability of the data. This classification was also used for all previous WRES reports, so using the same classification allows for comparisons with previous years.
The 2 broad ethnic groups are: * White – including White British and White ethnic minorities * Other – all other ethnic groups
2. By ethnicity and area
| Geography | White | Other than White |
|---|---|---|
| % | % | |
| All | 18.6 | 12.7 |
| East of England | 16.1 | 11.6 |
| London | 21.0 | 13.1 |
| Midlands | 15.0 | 10.7 |
| North East and Yorkshire | 19.6 | 14.0 |
| North West | 19.2 | 12.3 |
| South East of England | 20.3 | 14.7 |
| South West of England | 20.4 | 15.2 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity and area’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity and area’ (CSV)
Summary of NHS workforce appointments from shortlisting By ethnicity and area Summary
This data shows that:
- overall, 18.6% of White shortlisted applicants to NHS jobs in England in 2018/19 were appointed, compared with 12.7% of shortlisted applicants from the Other ethnic group (all other ethnic groups combined) – this means White shortlisted applicants were 1.46 times as likely to be appointed as shortlisted applicants from the Other ethnic group
- in the Midlands, 10.7% of shortlisted applicants from the Other ethnic group were appointed, the lowest percentage out of all 4 regions
- in London, 21.0% of White shortlisted applicants were appointed, making them 1.60 times as likely to be appointed as those in the Other ethnic group – this was the highest relative difference out of all 7 regions
- in the South West of England, White shortlisted applicants were 1.34 times as likely to be appointed as shortlisted applicants from the Other ethnic group – this was the lowest relative difference out of all 7 regions
3. By ethnicity and area
| Geography | White | Other than White |
|---|---|---|
| % | % | |
| All | 18.6 | 12.7 |
| East of England | 16.1 | 11.6 |
| London | 21.0 | 13.1 |
| Midlands | 15.0 | 10.7 |
| North East and Yorkshire | 19.6 | 14.0 |
| North West | 19.2 | 12.3 |
| South East of England | 20.3 | 14.7 |
| South West of England | 20.4 | 15.2 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity and area’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity and area’ (CSV)
Summary of NHS workforce appointments from shortlisting By ethnicity and area Summary
This data shows that:
- overall, 18.6% of White shortlisted applicants to NHS jobs in England in 2018/19 were appointed, compared with 12.7% of shortlisted applicants from the Other ethnic group (all other ethnic groups combined) – this means White shortlisted applicants were 1.46 times as likely to be appointed as shortlisted applicants from the Other ethnic group
- in the Midlands, 10.7% of shortlisted applicants from the Other ethnic group were appointed, the lowest percentage out of all 4 regions
- in London, 21.0% of White shortlisted applicants were appointed, making them 1.60 times as likely to be appointed as those in the Other ethnic group – this was the highest relative difference out of all 7 regions
- in the South West of England, White shortlisted applicants were 1.34 times as likely to be appointed as shortlisted applicants from the Other ethnic group – this was the lowest relative difference out of all 7 regions
4. By ethnicity and type of trust
| NHS_trust_type | White | Other than White |
|---|---|---|
| % | % | |
| Acute | 19.0 | 13.1 |
| All | 18.6 | 12.7 |
| Ambulance | 16.7 | 11.9 |
| Community Provider Trust | 18.6 | 11.9 |
| Mental Health | 17.7 | 11.5 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity and type of trust’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity and type of trust’ (CSV)
Summary of NHS workforce appointments from shortlisting By ethnicity and type of trust Summary
This data shows that:
- in 2018/19, White shortlisted applicants in community provider trusts were 1.56 times as likely to be appointed as those from the Other ethnic group – this was the highest relative difference out of all 4 types of trust
- shortlisted applicants to jobs in ambulance trusts had the lowest likelihood of being appointed out of all 4 trust types, with 16.7% of White shortlisted applicants and 11.9% of shortlisted applicants from the Other ethnic group appointed
5. By ethnicity and type of trust
| NHS_trust_type | White | Other than White |
|---|---|---|
| % | % | |
| Acute | 19.0 | 13.1 |
| All | 18.6 | 12.7 |
| Ambulance | 16.7 | 11.9 |
| Community Provider Trust | 18.6 | 11.9 |
| Mental Health | 17.7 | 11.5 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity and type of trust’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity and type of trust’ (CSV)
Summary of NHS workforce appointments from shortlisting By ethnicity and type of trust Summary
This data shows that:
- in 2018/19, White shortlisted applicants in community provider trusts were 1.56 times as likely to be appointed as those from the Other ethnic group – this was the highest relative difference out of all 4 types of trust
- shortlisted applicants to jobs in ambulance trusts had the lowest likelihood of being appointed out of all 4 trust types, with 16.7% of White shortlisted applicants and 11.9% of shortlisted applicants from the Other ethnic group appointed
6. Methodology
Data was collated by each trust from the appropriate sources including; NHS Jobs record information, the Electronic Staff Record (ESR) and in some trusts it was recorded manually. Trusts then submitted the data using the Strategic Data Collection System (SDCS), which allows all trusts to share their data with NHS England. This data is based on the figures submitted to NHS England using the Strategic Data Collection System as at January 2019 and is subject to change.
224 out of 227 NHS trusts (98.7%) provided data for this indicator. The remaining three (1.3%) of trusts either did not submit data or the data was not of sufficient quality (for example, data contained errors or anomalies).
Rounding
Percentages are rounded to 1 decimal point.
Quality and methodology information
7. Data sources
Source
Workforce Race Equality Standard 2019: supporting data
Type of data
Administrative data
Type of statistic
Official statistics
Publisher
NHS England
Note on corrections or updates
Updated with the latest data for 2018/19.
Publication frequency
Yearly
Purpose of data source
The NHS collects ethnicity data to improve workforce race equality.
8. Download the data
This file contains the following: Measure, NHS trust type, NHS trust code, Ethnicity, Ethnicity_type, Geography, Geography type, NHS trust, Value, Value type, Relative likelihood