Religion and belief
Workforce Breakdown
As with other protected characteristics new starts are asked to provide information in respect of their religious and faith beliefs, as part of the staff engagement process. Over the last few years the quality of information provided has improved, with fewer people not providing information on religion and beliefs in the monitored period than in previous years, as can be seen in the chart below. Of those who provided information the largest proportion of staff identify themselves as “No Religion” (27.0%: 0.6% higher than the previous year) or “Roman Catholic” (22.5%: 0.2% up on 2021/2022).
Faiths which are represented by fewer than 5 members of staff (such as Jewish, Sikh, Buddhist) are not reported individually, but captured within “Other”.
Across Scotland the 2011 census (https://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/; Census 2011 equality results: analysis, part two) showed quite a different picture with regard to religion compared to the staff at NHS GJ, as can be seen from the table below. Closer to home NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, the geographical Board surrounding NHS GJ, which one might expect to roughly match our percentages, showed a marked difference (NHS Scotland Workforce Statistics release as at 31 March 2022). Our proportion of staff who state that they are “Church of Scotland” is significantly lower than the national figure, while our proportion in the “Roman Catholic” faith is much higher. Interestingly, while 24.6% of staff at NHS GJ say they have “No Religion”, this is much lower than for Scotland as a whole, with 36.7% of the general population stating in the 2011 census that they had “No Religion”.
| Religion or belief | % Scottish population | % NHSGGC staff | % NHS GJ staff |
|---|---|---|---|
| No religion | 36.7% | 31.2% | 27.0% |
| Roman Cathollic | 15.9% | 15.6% | 22.5% |
| Church of Scotland | 32.4% | 12.9% | 18.1% |
| Not stated | 7.0% | 31.3% | 19.4% |
| Christian - other | 5.5% | 5.6% | 7.9% |
| Other | 1.1% | 6.2% | 2.7% |
| Muslim | 1.4% | 1.4% | 1.3% |
Recruitment Activity
The breakdown of new starters by religion or belief is shown in the chart below:
37.7% of new starters indicated that they do not have a religion, higher than the 27.0% of the general workforce who stated that they do not have a religion. When compared to the general workforce, both Roman Catholic and Church of Scotland are under-represented in their proportions of new starters.
Training Activity
The chart below shows that members of each religious group undertook roughly proportionate training in relation to that group’s size within the workforce.
Faiths which are represented by fewer than 5 members of staff in the training % Training or % Workforce (such as Jewish, Sikh, Buddhist) are not reported individually, but captured within “Other”.
Career Progression
The table below shows the number and proportions of promotions by religion or belief and compares it to the proportion of the workforce that identifies itself as that religion or belief:
| Promotions | Workforce | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Headcount | % Headcount | Headcount | % Headcount | |
| No religion | 39 | 28.1% | 590 | 27.0% |
| Roman Catholic | 39 | 28.1% | 491 | 22.5% |
| Church of Scotland | 26 | 18.7% | 395 | 18.1% |
| No information provided | 11 | 7.9% | 248 | 11.3% |
| Prefer not to say | 12 | 8.6% | 177 | 8.1% |
| Christian - other | 5 | 3.6% | 172 | 7.9% |
|
Other |
7 | 5.0% | 113 | 5.2% |
| Total | 139 | 100.0% | 2186 | 100.0% |
Leavers
During 2021-2022 proportion of leavers was highest in the group of staff who had “No Religion”: 27.3% of leavers compared to 24.6% of staff:
| Leavers | Workforce | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Headcount | % Headcount | Headcount | % Headcount | |
| No religion | 121 | 36.8% | 590 | 27.0% |
| Roman Catholic | 58 | 17.6% | 491 | 22.5% |
| Church of Scotland | 51 | 15.5% | 395 | 18.1% |
| No information provided | 36 | 10.9% | 248 | 11.3% |
| Prefer not to say | 25 | 7.6% | 177 | 8.1% |
| Christian - other | 19 | 5.8% | 172 | 7.9% |
|
Other |
19 | 5.8% | 113 | 5.2% |
| Total | 329 | 100.0% | 2186 | 100.0% |
