Derby Hospitals NHS Trust could use its own nurses to interview employees who are off sick in a bid to cut its £15m debt.
The trust, which employs about 7,000 people, said the measures could also help reduce absence levels, which are currently at an average of 12 days per employee.
A spokesman for Derby Hospitals NHS Trust said: “These ideas are at a very early stage and are just one of the areas being looked at to reduce the overall debt.
“The system of using nurses to talk to employees is widely used by other large organisations,” he added.
Workplace absence cost the UK economy £13.2bn in 2005 or £531 per employee, according to the annual survey by the CBI and Axa.
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