Pressure on mental health for NHS staff revealed

A nurse said she wanted to be in a car crash so she would not have to go to work, research into the mental health of NHS staff found.

Figures obtained by the Scottish Conservatives show more than 74,000 NHS staff across Scotland have missed work with mental illness in the last five years.

Some 74,013 workers have taken time off due to anxiety, stress, depression or other mental illnesses since 2018, responses to requests by the party to all of Scotland’s 14 health boards show.

The figures represent around 46% of the NHS’s 160,000-strong workforce in Scotland.

One member of staff in NHS Borders worked a 19.5-hour shift, the figures show.

Scottish Conservative health spokesman Sandesh Gulhane described the findings as “deeply concerning”, saying there has been a lack of support and workforce planning by the Scottish Government.

During a recent roundtable event with NHS nurses, one said she hoped to be in a car accident to avoid work and another said she was no longer proud of the work she did.

More than 1.5 million working days have been lost as a result of the absences, with figures likely to be far higher as not all of the health boards provided the information requested.

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde – Scotland’s largest health board – revealed absences only for the last three years rather than the last five.

The board had the highest tally of the 14 health boards.

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Our healthcare system continues to be under substantial pressure and we are working with health boards to provide long-term sustainable support.”