Sick leave and unsung heroes
I read your report on sick leave among social services staff at Dudley Council on September 11) This attempted to sensationalise something that has many different factors.
As a council, while we expect a lot from our staff, we are also a compassionate employer. We see it as important to assist staff through periods of ill health so that they are able to return to work at full capacity to provide services for Dudley people.
A significant proportion of the sickness absence you refer to is long-term sickness. The most frequent reasons for sickness absence include surgical operations, post-operative recovery, cancer, diabetic complications, muscular skeletal problems, stress and mental health issues. These are serious issues.
We have a proactive approach to managing sickness absence which includes an active approach to people who are long-term sick through ongoing contact with managers, welfare visits and the support of Occupational Health or our staff counselling service.
The nature of social care work is such that sickness absence is likely to be higher than in many other occupational groups. Social care is recognised to be a high-stress occupation. People who work in social care are continually in close contact with old and vulnerable service users and we have to be sure that we minimise the risk of cross infection to such people
Since 2002/03, through active management of sickness absence, social care sickness absence figures in the council have shown a consistent reduction. In comparison to our national social services comparators, Dudley has consistently less sickness.
Finally, we are not complacent about our achievement in reducing sickness absence and we will continue this improvement. Social services staff are among the unsung heroes in our Dudley community and we should all be grateful for their work. Social services in Dudley are recognised by inspectors to be performing well.
Cllr Peter Miller, Cabinet Member for Adult & Community Services, Dudley MBC.
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