Doctors took more than four years off with stress issues
DOCTORS in the county took the equivalent of more than four years off due to stress last year, new figures show.
Across Gloucestershire’s hospitals, doctors were off work for a total of 1,600 days due to stress related absences between January and November 2018.
Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust saw the highest number of days lost last year at 1,495, according to data released by NHS Digital.
That is the equivalent of more than four years and is a significant increase to the 388 days lost in 2017.
BMA council chair, Dr Chaand Nagpaul, said: “As alarming as these figures are, they are unfortunately not surprising considering the enormous pressure that many doctors are currently under.”
The figures include absences for anxiety, stress, depression as well as other mental health conditions.
The number of days taken off due to stress in 2018 is a marked increase on the previous year, where there were 855 days lost.
The figure for 2018 is a 90 per cent increase on 2017, and is the highest number recorded since at least 2012.
On the other hand, Gloucestershire Care Services NHS Trust saw the lowest number of days lost in the county, with 105 stress-related days off, down from 467 the year.
In the whole of England, doctors lost the equivalent of 290 years due to stress between January and November 2018; or 105,963 days.
This compares to 99,566 for the whole of 2017.
Similarly to Gloucestershire, this is the highest recorded number since at
We need to tackle the underlying causes which are forcing people to take out of the profession by increasing investment and resources as well as ensuring that support is at hand Dr Chaand Nagpul
least 2012, when there were 214 years lost in England, (78,236 days).
Commenting on the ‘alarming’ but ‘unsurprising figures,’ added: “This was exemplified in a recent survey from the BMA looking at the mental health of doctors, which found that a worrying eight in 10 were at high risk of burnout and significant number had a mental health condition, linked to the stress of working in the NHS.
“We already have significant staff shortages in the health service and absenteeism places even more pressure on staff to increase their workload to keep up with demand, thus perpetuating a vicious cycle.
“We need to tackle the underlying causes which are forcing people to take out of the profession by increasing investment and resources as well as ensuring that support is at hand for those staff who have unfortunately reached this crisis point.”
Gloucestershire Care Services NHS Trust and Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundations Trust were both contacted for a comment.
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