To ask the Minister of Health when the Health and Social Care workforce census will be updated to take account of the introduction of the Specialist role, as introduced by the 2021 Specialist Contract.

The Specialist medical role was introduced in 2021. At present, due to low numbers and to minimise the risk of personal disclosure when information is disaggregated by categories such as age group or gender, these Specialist medical staff are included in the SAS grades category within the HSC Workforce Census. As this staff group grows over time, inclusion in the HSC Workforce Census as a separate category will be reviewed.