Psychiatry bucks job vacancies trend

The number of job vacancies in community psychiatry has risen by 95
to 305, according to the latest NHS workforce vacancy survey.

The rise, between September 2002 and March 2003, is despite a
general reduction in the number of NHS job vacancies, including
falls in care for people with learning difficulties.

At the same time, figures from the Office for National Statistics
show that the social services workforce shrank by a further 10,000
last year to 367,000, a drop of nearly 30,000 compared with 1998.

Over the same period, 354,000 extra public sector jobs have been
created, including 86,000 last year.