Stress rise for 999 workers

Increase in days taken off by ambulance service

The number of days taken off for stress-related sickness at East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust has risen sharply over four years. A total of 12,844 days were taken off for stress in 2013 compared to 4,526 in 2010 with increases each year despite staff levels dropping by 159 in that time.

The number of employees taking time off for stress-related sickness rose from 155 in 2010 to 308 in 2013. The statistics were released through a Freedom of Information request.

The trust’s chief executive Dr Anthony Marsh said: “I have already put in place actions, like recruiting more frontline staff and buying new ambulances, to ease the pressure on our dedicated staff and better support them.

“I recognise the increased cruitment freeze. It will take years to fully recover.”

Days lost to sickness for a stress-related condition at Cambridgeshire fire service were 5241.5 in 2013, compared to 5,042 in 2009 with the numbers varying each year. The number of staff taking days off for this reason was between 15 to 26.

Neil Newberry, assistant chief fire officer, said: “We monitor our stress-related sickness and our occupation health department run a number of pro-active campaigns and events to help our staff combat stress.

“When our wholetime staff attend a traumatic incident we have a process in place to get them immediate help.”

Days lost to psychological issues by police went from 3,432 in 2011/12 to 2,257 in 2013/14.

A spokesman said: “We take the well-being of staff extremely seriously and have an occupational health unit which offers a range of health and well-being services.”