This story was first published in digitalhealth.net
Surge in stress-related illness in the NHS
New figures have emphasised a surge in the amount of sick time needed by health staff as stress and anxiety amongst NHS workers rockets.
Seen by ITV News, the NHS Digital figures reveal that NHS staff took almost 100,000 more days off last year due to stress than they did six years ago. In acute medicine, which treats the most serious and urgent cases, the number of sick days taken has risen by 35 per cent.
For all NHS staff, there were 325,218 days lost due to stress in 2018, which, when compared with the 226,396 days lost due to stress in 2013, indicates a rise of 30.4 per cent.
The data does not pinpoint a reason for the rise in stress and anxiety, but anecdotally workers have claimed that staff shortages and an overwhelming workload might be at least part of the problem.
A spokesman for the Department of Health and Social Care said: “NHS staff face many challenging situations as part of their unwavering commitment to caring for us all. As part of the next step in delivering the Long Term Plan, the NHS will shortly set out its response to recommendations to improve mental health support for staff, including access to a dedicated confidential helpline and fast-tracked referral scheme so that anyone struggling gets the help they need.”
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