Approved Mental Health Professional (AMHP) workforce
Data correct as at 2022/23
Next update due: Spring 2024
This page presents findings from the AMHP survey. Skills for Care has worked closely with the Department of Health and Social Care and the AMHP Network to gain a better understanding of this key job role.
Downloading the visualisation and notes about the data
- You can also download a PDF or PowerPoint version by clicking on the arrow found at the bottom right of the visualisation.
- There are notes about the data when you hover over the ( i ) in the visualisation.
- For information about how workforce estimates are created or rounding and suppression rules please visit our webpage on methodology.
- If you require data that isn’t available in the visualisation or report below, please contact us.
Key findings
A dedicated AMHP survey was distributed to 148 local authorities across England and achieved an 85% completion rate. This report presents information collected from this survey as well as information on social workers collected by the Adult Social Care Workforce Data Set (ASC-WDS).
- There are an estimated 3,800 approved AMHPs in England.
- 11% of AMHPs were inactive (approved but not practicing as an AHMP).
- 94% of AMHPs were employed as social workers, 5% were registered nurses and 1% were occupational therapists and psychologists.
- 77% of AMHPs were employed by local authorities, 16% by the NHS and the remainder employed by agencies of freelance.
- Two thirds of AMHPs combined their role with a substantive role e.g. social worker.
- The ASC-WDS showed that around 29% of AMHPs were aged 55 and above, which was a higher proportion than for social workers overall (23%).
- Around 18% of social workers were male, this rises to 25% when only considering AMHPs.
Related reports