Over half a million work days lost in March due to nurse sickness

New sickness absence data from NHS Digital, published yesterday, showed that in March 2023 the overall sickness absence rate for nurses and health visitors was 5.3%. This equates to 575,177 full-time equivalent days lost due to sickness over the month.

“It is vital that additional support is provided so that staff across the NHS receive the support they need"

Miriam Deakin

While the sickness absence rate for nurses and health visitors has dropped compared to the same time last year, when it was 6.5%, it remains higher than 2019 levels when it was 4.3%.

The March 2023 rate for nurses and health visitors was also higher than the average rate for all professions, which stood at 4.9%.

Across all staff, the North West region reported the highest sickness absence rate, at 5.7%, while the London region reported the lowest, at 4.3%.

Anxiety, stress, depression and other psychiatric illnesses were the most reported reasons for sickness across the NHS workforce, accounting for more than 507,100 full-time equivalent days lost and 24.2% of all sickness absence in March 2023.

Responding to the sickness absence data, Miriam Deakin, director of policy and strategy at NHS Providers, said the figures laid bare “the psychological strain on staff right across acute, mental health, community and ambulance services” amid staff shortages and growing demand.

She said: “NHS trust leaders are doing everything they can to help the health and wellbeing of staff and to cover sickness absences.

“But their ability to support their staff is being hampered by a lack of funding which has led to the widespread closure of wellbeing hubs, leaving many NHS staff across the country without much-needed access to crucial mental health services.

“It is vital that additional support is provided so that staff across the NHS receive the support they need.”

Her comments about wellbeing hubs come amid a campaign by the British Psychological Society, supported by nurses, to fight against cuts to these sources of support for NHS staff, which were introduced in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Meanwhile, also commenting on the latest absence data, the Royal College of Nursing director for England, Patricia Marquis, said: "Today's figures show rates of sickness amongst nursing staff remain stubbornly high and are well above pre-pandemic levels.

“Although the overall sickness rate has trended down slightly since December 2022, there are still far too many days lost due to nursing staff being off sick.”

Separate data also published yesterday by NHS Digital showed an increase in the number of nurses and health visitors in the workforce.

As of April 2023, there were 333,994 full-time equivalent nurses and health visitors working in the NHS in England – a 14,498 rise compared to the previous year.

Patricia Marquis

However, Ms Marquis warned that there was still evidence of a nursing workforce crisis.

She said: “There is unrelenting pressure on nursing staff, a workforce with record vacancies is further depleted by high sickness and a record 7.47m people on a waiting list.

“The result is patients receiving a lower standard of care and nursing staff being left burnt out and overstretched, with thousands more leaving the profession.”

The NHS workforce plan, published last month by the government, aims to increase the number of nurses by 170,000-190,000 by 2037.

Ms Marquis added: "The NHS workforce plan has lofty ambitions but lacks details, with nursing staff needing help now."

Responding to the workforce data, health minister Will Quince said: “Today’s figures demonstrate the clear progress being made to train and recruit record numbers of staff across the NHS.

“Cutting waiting lists is one of the government’s five priorities and we are committed to ensuring we have the workforce in place to achieve that.

“We will build on this progress through the first ever NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, which will deliver the biggest training expansion in NHS history and recruit and retain hundreds of thousands more staff over the next 15 years, backed by over £2.4bn in government funding.”

Meanwhile, responding to the sickness absence data, a Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “We are hugely grateful to NHS staff for their hard work and their health and wellbeing is of paramount importance.

“For staff that need it the NHS provides physical and mental health support – including targeted psychological support and treatment.

“The NHS has published the first ever NHS Long Term Workforce Plan setting out actions to retain and recruit hundreds of thousands more staff over the next 15 years, backed by over £2.4 billion in government funding.”