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AnxietyDepressionStressMental health conditionsCoronavirus

Pandemic causes NHS sickness absence to hit record high

by Nic Paton 3 Sep 2020
by Nic Paton 3 Sep 2020

The intense stresses and strains of dealing with the coronavirus pandemic sparked the highest rates of sickness absence among NHS staff in England in more than a decade, according to latest data.

Figures released by NHS Digital revealed that the monthly sickness rate hit 6.2% in April 2020 – up from 5.4% the month before. This was the highest level recorded, in data that goes back to April 2009.

About 2.3 million full-time equivalent days of work were lost out of a total of nearly 36.6 million during April. This compared with 1.4 million lost out of nearly 35 million in the same month last year.

The worst-hit region was London, where the sickness rate increased to 7.2%. This compared with a rate of 4% in January, when London had the lowest rate of any English region.

Ambulance trusts recorded the highest rates of sickness absence, at 7.3%. The next worst-hit group were those working for acute trusts, which provide services such as A&E departments, with a sickness absence rate of 6.5%.

The most reported reasons for sickness absence were anxiety, stress, depression or other psychiatric illnesses, at 20.9%.

Nic Paton
Nic Paton

Nic Paton is consulting editor of OHW+. One of the country's foremost workplace health journalists, Nic has written for OHW+ and Occupational Health & Wellbeing since 2001, and edited the magazine from 2018.

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