Staff absences due to coronavirus hit a four-month high at Bristol hospitals

STAFF absences linked to coronavirus have hit a four-month high at Bristol’s hospitals.

NHS England has released the number of absences reported at hospital trusts across the country, as a result of Covid-19 sickness or self-isolation.

The statistics, which provide a daily breakdown up to November 5, show a steady rise in recent weeks as Bristol is deluged with a second wave of cases.

At North Bristol NHS Trust, which runs health facilities including Southmead Hospital, there were 226 Covid-related absences as of November 4, down slightly on 228 the previous day. This accounted for almost half of the overall 499 staff absences (including non-coronavirus absences) that same day.

Last time coronavirus absences were so high was on July 30, when 228 trust employees were off sick or self-isolating. However, the most recent figure is still only a fraction of the staff absences reported during the first wave of the pandemic.

The biggest daily absence figure since the pandemic began was recorded on March 21, when 1,180 staff members at the trust were off either with coronavirus or self-isolating.

Rules on when to self-isolate were different at that point, for example travellers returning from certain countries were required to quarantine upon their return.

At University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the Bristol Royal Infirmary, 212 staff members were absent due to coronavirus on November 4 – almost 40 per cent of the 552 overall absences that day.

The Covid absence figure was the highest since July 23, when 216 employees were off ill or self-isolating. It was at its highest at the trust on April 7, when 1,265 staff absences related to coronavirus were logged.

Figures include the workforce across the trusts’ entire remit, so will not only include frontline health workers but other areas including administration, research, support services and so on.

Both of Bristol’s hospital trusts declared internal critical incidents at the end of October, in response to the rising coronavirus admissions and concerns services were at risk of being overwhelmed without action.

Several measures have since been taken to ease the strain on staff, including the cancellation of some non-essential appointments and operations.