Administrative and nursing staff are the two largest staff groups employed by ICBs across England, according to an exclusive investigation.
A freedom of information (FOI) request from Healthcare Leader, to which all 42 ICBs responded, asked for a breakdown of the staff employed by their system.
There were 19 ICBs which responded with comparable data by breaking roles down as listed on the electronic staff record which included: additional professional scientific and technical; additional clinical services, administrative and clerical; medical and dental; nursing and midwifery; allied health professionals.
South Yorkshire also reported 115 pharmacists and pharmacy technicians alongside these other categories.
In total, 9,110 of the 12,496 staff employed across the 19 ICBs were administrative and clerical. The next largest staff group was nursing and midwifery staff, with 1,868 employed. This was followed by additional professional scientific and technical staff, who made up 760 across the 19 ICBs.
A further 578 medical and dental staff were reported across the systems.
This is a similar make up compared to an FOI investigation from 2023, where more than 13,000 administrative staff were employed alongside 2,074 nurses and midwives.
North East London recorded the most administrative staff, with 759 employees. It is the ninth largest ICB in terms of staffing numbers in total, and sixth largest in population size.
This is followed by Cheshire and Merseyside, the fourth largest ICB in terms of population, with 745 administrative staff. And Humber and North Yorkshire, with the thirteenth largest population, recorded 651 staff in this category .
The lowest numbers of administrative employees (230) are recorded in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, which is also one of the smallest ICBs, down in fortieth for population size. This is followed by Herefordshire and Worcestershire (248) and Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire (327).
The greatest number of nursing staff is employed by Cheshire and Merseyside, with 218 employees in this category. Followed by Lancashire and South Cumbria (197) and South Yorkshire (155). These two are twelfth and eighteenth in terms of patient population size.
Hampshire and the Isle of Wight ICB, which employs 136 nursing and midwifery staff, said these roles included the following:
- Continuing health care nurses that work directly with patients to assess their needs,
- Quality nurses who work across local providers ensuring quality standards are met,
- Safeguarding nurses – supporting the safeguarding processes of adults and children,
- Children’s nurses and midwives who support children with complex needs and maternity services across Hampshire.
‘Then we have professional leads and managers who support the front-line staff as mentioned,’ it added.
Although it has the highest number of administrative staff, North East London reported the lowest number of nurses and midwifery staff, with just 29 recorded in their staff numbers.
Of the other ICBs that didn’t respond with comparable data, North West London said all roles it employs are administrative or management roles as the ‘ICB does not directly provide services’.
Somerset and North Central London ICBs said they could not provide a breakdown as their ICBs were currently reviewing jobs and going through ‘organisational change’.
In September, Healthcare Leader revealed that Greater Manchester had seen the highest fall in its overall staff numbers from its integrated care system between 2023 and 2024.
Yesterday it was also revealed that ICBs have saved £25m through redundancies since they were set up in July 2022, including roles such as managers, midwives and community practitioners.
