1 in 8 NHS medics off sick for at least a month

RECORD numbers of doctors, midwives and nurses are taking long-term sick leave as a stress epidemic grips NHS Scotland.

One in eight workers missed work for at least a month in the past year and the most common causes were anxiety, stress and depression.

The figures suggest workers in the crisis-stricken NHS may have reached breaking point after years of cuts, staff shortages and growing workloads.

Today, writing in this paper, the chair of the British Medical Association Scotland, Dr Peter Bennie, warns there is ‘no magic pill’ and that the NHS needs extra funding and workforce gaps filled.

He said: ‘We have fewer doctors per 1,000 population in Britain than in almost every other EU nation.

‘With a diagnosis of a sick and tired workforce, every effort must be made to value the doctors, and all other staff we have, to improve the long-term outlook.

‘The high level of demand and rising workload – exacerbated by gaps in the workforce – are unsurprisingly resulting in significant levels of sickness absence.’

He added: ‘It will require extra funding, better workforce planning, and gaps in the workforce addressed urgently so staff do not feel like they are constantly papering over the cracks.’

Last month, Nicola Sturgeon argued that NHS Scotland was performing better than England’s crisis-hit health service. But the findings by The Scottish Mail on Sunday prove otherwise, with staff shortages leading to a growing number of cancelled operations, increasing waiting lists and ward closures.

Freedom of Information requests sent to Scotland’s 14 health boards show that last year 17,450 doctors, nurses and midwives were signed off on long-term sick leave, defined as a block of at least 28 days. This means 12.46 per cent of health workers were off long-term. At least 8,200 were nurses and midwives – nearly half the total.

Overall, around a million working days were lost to sickness – and almost a third were caused by anxiety, stress or depression.

By comparison, official figures suggest that only 1.8 per cent of Scotland’s working population take long-term sick leave each year.

Last night politicians urged the SNP to take the health of NHS staff more seriously.

Scottish Tory health spokesman Donald Cameron said: ‘It’s high time the Scottish Government addressed these issues.’

Mary Ross-Dadie, director of the Royal College of Midwives in Scotland, said: ‘Our workers tell us they are often unable to get the breaks they need. Sometimes midwives can’t even go for a drink of water and many are burning out.

‘The pace of work means midwives cannot provide the personal care and attention they want to.’

A total of 4,196 workers – 2,109 of them nurses and midwives – took long-term sick leave in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde last year.

At NHS Lothian, 3,291 workers took four weeks off or more. A total of 1,825 were nurses and midwives.

A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘Under this Government there are now more than 11,500 more staff working in our NHS and this number continues to rise.’

‘Constantly papering over the cracks’