The Department of Health has released Northern Ireland Health and Social Care (HSC) Active Recruitment Statistics and Quarterly Workforce Statistics as at 31 December 2025.

These statistical publications present analysis of active recruitment vacancies and staff in post, broken down by staff group and HSC organisation, including trend information.

The NI HSC Workforce publication covers the majority of HSC hospital, community and social services workforce. It excludes bank/sessional staff, staff on career breaks, Chairpersons and Members of Boards, those recorded with less than 0.03 whole-time equivalent (WTE), and domiciliary care staff.

Data in the HSC Workforce publication was collected from the Human Resources, Payroll, Travel and Subsistence database maintained by HSC organisations.

The NI HSC Active Recruitment Statistics publication covers positions currently with the recruitment team and being actively recruited to, including those undergoing pre-employment checks up to the point of a start date being agreed. It includes both permanent and temporary positions but excludes vacancies on hold by managers.

Whole-time equivalent (WTE) is calculated by aggregating the total contracted hours for staff in a particular grade and dividing by the standard hours for that grade.

The publications are available on the Department of Health website.