Cancer workforce

We study the cancer workforce to help us better understand the size, composition and location of cancer professionals in the UK.

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Cancer workforce overview

In the UK, the NHS cancer workforce faces long-standing pressures. One barrier to solving this issue is the lack of a clear definition of the cancer workforce.

Electronic Staff Record (ESR) represents a valuable resource for monitoring, modelling and planning the cancer workforce.

We have requested and analysed Electronic Staff Record (ESR) data on the cancer and palliative care workforce.

This work delivers an initial working definition for identifying cancer related workforce In England.

Further work with the NHS and partners is needed to agree a clear definition to help the monitoring, modelling and planning of the cancer workforce.

We also need to support trusts. This support will help them improve their reporting and the accuracy of their ESR data.

This poster summarises the key findings, and you can access the full NHS data set.

Specialist cancer nurses

Macmillan has conducted censuses of cancer, palliative and chemotherapy speciality nurses and support workers across the UK:

Northern Ireland

We have also used this work in modelling to estimate future requirements for the workforce.

Allied Health Professionals

Allied Health Professionals are vital to the delivery of cancer care. They include dietitians, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, speech and language therapists, and other roles. In 2018, we commissioned a report to better understand this workforce.

Download the report