Health and Medicine

If you are going to work in this career area you must have a strong interest in people – in caring for them and keeping them healthy. This area includes a wide range of jobs, over three hundred different types. The health care sector has one of the biggest workforces in Scotland, employing around 227,300 people (9% of the Scottish workforce). Most health care workers, around 150,000, work for NHS Scotland. A further 43,187 people work in the private health care sector. Many alternative therapists are self-employed. Workforce numbers have fallen since the beginning of the economic downturn in 2008, as they have in the public sector as a whole.

It is difficult to give a clear indication of how the health care sector workforce will develop in the future. Demand for health care services is likely to keep growing, as a result of an increasingly ageing population and advances in medical science. But, finding the money to pay for the increasing demand is a major challenge. The NHS is subject to cuts in public spending and frequent reforms to try to make it more cost effective. There are shortages in highly qualified professional staff including: medical consultants, biological scientists, medical radiographers and specialist nurses, for example, theatre nurses, intensive care and operating department practitioners. There should also be an increasing demand for caring personal services staff, such as nursing auxiliaries and care assistants. Here are a few workforce facts about the health care sector:

• In Scotland, 82% of the workforce is female.
• Just over 10% of qualified nursing, health visiting and midwifery staff are male.
• Over 60% of qualified ambulance staff and over 50% of ambulance support staff are male.
• Around 50% of employees are part time. 45% of the part time workers are female.
• About 44% of the current workforce is expected to retire by 2017.

Skills you need to have or develop to work in this area The skills you’ll need will vary according to the type of job you want to get into. However, the following core skills are important.

• Communication skills – both verbal and written
• Working with others – especially patient care skills
• Teamwork
• Problem solving

Routes into health and medicine There are many different levels of entry depending on your qualifications, and many different routes into careers in the sector. Some jobs are open to people with few or no formal qualifications, although you are usually expected to gain qualifications through on the job training, for example Health Care Assistant or Hospital Porter. Others may require at least some subjects at Standard grade or National 4 or 5, and possibly some Highers. It is possible to train for some jobs by doing a Modern Apprenticeship – for example, as a Dental Nurse or Administrative Officer. Most jobs are highly skilled and need a specialised degree and professional qualifications. Some may take between seven to twelve years of study and professional practice to fully qualify in, for example a career as a Doctor or Medical Pathologist. In 2011-2012, 58% of new entrants to degree courses in Medicine and Dentistry were female. 84% of new entrants to degree courses in subjects allied to Medicine were female. Jobs and courses in this career area have been divided into 16 sectors:

• Alternative or complementary medicine
• Ambulance services
• Chiropody or podiatry
• Dentistry
• Dietetics
• Medical technology
• Medicine and surgery
• Nursing and auxiliary work
• Occupational therapy
• Ophthalmics and orthoptics
• Pharmacy
• Physiotherapy
• Public and environmental health
• Radiography
• Speech therapy
• Therapies (other).

Sources

The Health Sector in Scotland: Workforce Statistics - Skills for Health (January 2011)

UK Health, Skills for Health Scottish Sector Profile (2011)

Scotland Skills and Labour Market Intelligence Assessment 2011 - Skills for Health Research and LMI Team (2011)

Higher Education Students and Qualifiers at Scottish Institutions 2011-12, Scottish Funding Council (March 2013)

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