Coronavirus sees staff sickness at Black Country and Staffordshire hospital trusts hit record high

It comes as the latest statistics reveal 2.3 million full-time working days were lost due to sickness or absence across the NHS in April – the most in more than a decade.

NHS Digital data shows that in April, the overall staff sickness and absence rate at the Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust (RWT) was 6.7 per cent. The rate was 3.6 per cent during the same month last year.

At the Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust, the overall sickness and absence rate for April was 8.7 per cent – compared to 4.6 per cent the same month in 2019.

While at the Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust it was 10.1 per cent in April, compared to 5.7 per cent during the same month last year.

And at the University Hospitals of North Midlands (UHNM) NHS Trust, it was 6.4 per cent. The rate was 4.1 per cent during the same month in 2019.

For all four NHS trusts, it was the highest level since comparable records began in 2013.

While at the Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust the absence and sickness rate fell – at 4.6 per cent in April this year.

It was down slightly from five per cent in March, and was below the 4.8 per cent seen in the same month last year.

The figures cover the first full month of lockdown, when people across the country were urged to stay at home to protect the NHS, as it came under increased pressure due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

'Above and beyond'

Alan Duffell, director of workforce at RWT, said: “Our staff have worked above and beyond in extremely difficult circumstances to safely care for our patients in our hospitals and in the community over the last six months.

"Since the peak in April, we have seen approximately a 12 per cent decrease in staff absence levels across the trust and they are now significantly lower and more in line with what we would expect to see at this time of year.

“We recognise that Covid-19 has had a significant impact on the health and wellbeing of our staff and set up a dedicated Covid-19 occupational health number for them to call for information and advice.

“We have also provided a comprehensive package of support focused around mental and physical health and wellbeing."

Diane Wake, chief executive at the Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust, said: "We are extremely proud of the commitment of our staff to providing the best possible care for our patients, and especially how they rose to the challenge during this unprecedented pandemic.

"As a trust we have lots of support in place for staff who fall sick including physio services, access to psychological therapies, referrals to our on-site Action Heart team and on-going support to help those off sick return to work."

Ro Vaughan, UHNM's director of human resources said: “In April, the in-month sickness rate was 6.24 per cent due to Covid-19, which accounted for 57 per cent of open sickness absences at April 30. This was due to either staff self-isolating with confirmed diagnosis of Covid-19, staff self-isolating with symptoms of Covid-19 and awaiting results or because they were shielding at home in line with Government guidance at the time.

“The health and wellbeing of our staff is a priority at any time, but particularly during a pandemic and during April a significant effort was focussed on supporting staff health and well-being with the provision of a well-being toolkit, summarising all of the current offerings for staff psychological support and emotional wellbeing as well as how to access staff Covid-19 testing.

“There has been a significant reduction in staff sickness since April and the current levels of sickness at UHNM are on a par to that for the same period last year.”

Peaks

NHS Providers, the membership organisation for trusts in England, said a variation in sickness absence by region and trusts correlated with the areas facing the biggest peaks of the outbreak.

The rate across the Midlands was 6.1 per cent in April – the fifth highest of NHS England's seven regions. London had the highest rate at 7.2 per cent, while the South West saw the lowest rate of 4.5 per cent.

Overall, the national NHS staff sickness rate was 6.2 per cent – the highest for any month on record.

Miriam Deakin, director of policy and strategy at NHS Providers, said: “The figures demonstrate just how committed staff have been to taking care of people as well as trusts’ commitment to creating safe environments for their staff and patients in difficult circumstances.”

Nationally, the most reported reason for sickness or absence was anxiety, stress, depression or other psychiatric illnesses, at 20.9 per cent.

The second most common reason, chest and respiratory problems, was given for 14.8 per cent of absences.

Covid-19 is not listed as a reason for sickness absence in the data, but the common symptoms of the coronavirus – a high temperature, new continuous cough and a loss or change in sense of taste or smell – are similar to some of the symptoms of flu.

Ms Deakin said an NHS Providers survey found that 93 per cent of NHS trust leaders are concerned about staff well-being, stress and burnout following the pandemic. She added: “Looking ahead, we must not underestimate the lasting impact working during Covid-19 will have on NHS staff.

“Trusts are doing all they can to support staff, including setting up a range of services such as relaxation and well-being hubs and safe spaces.

“Additional support for staff will be a long-term requirement, as evidence suggests that staff are more likely to present much later, around two-and-a-half to seven years after experiencing trauma.

“We will need to continue to track the mental health and wellbeing of the workforce to get a good understanding of the impact Covid-19 has had for years to come.”