NHS staff absence due to stress and anxiety up in Bournemouth and Poole

Mental health charity Mind said it is "worrying but not surprising" that mental health sick days among NHS staff increased across England when the crisis hit, as many frontline workers were forced to spend time isolated from their families.

And with the country in the grip of a second wave – and another lockdown – unions are calling for the Government to invest in increasing NHS workforce levels and staff pay to boost the morale of "exhausted health workers".

NHS Digital data shows the equivalent of 22,032 full-time staff days were lost due to sickness at The Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust between April and June.

Of these, 4,841 (22 per cent) were because of stress, anxiety, depression, or other psychiatric illnesses.

That was an increase of 67 per cent compared to the same period last year, when 2,906 days were lost for these reasons.

In Poole Hospital there were 11,092 days lost with 39 per cent (4,280) due to stress, anxiety, depression, or other psychiatric illnesses. this is 13 per cent up on the 3,803 days in the same period last year.

Across England, the number of mental health sick days among NHS staff rose to nearly 1.5 million between April and June, up from 1.1 million in the same period last year.

Sara Gorton, head of health at public sector union Unison, said healthcare workers have "paid a heavy physical and psychological price" to keep the NHS running.

"Staff shortages, while dealing with the backlog of cancelled operations from the spring, and the stress and trauma of working through the pandemic have hit hard," she added.

"Kind words and applause can only go so far. The Government should do the right thing next week and boost morale with a significant pay rise before Christmas. This would make the world of difference to staff and the NHS during this punishing second wave."

Susan Masters, director of nursing, policy and public affairs at the Royal College of Nursing, said a rise in the levels of staff needing to take time off for stress and anxiety during the pandemic "should come as no surprise".

She added that fundamental investment is needed to "grow a depleted workforce" and avoid a further increase in stress and sickness levels.

Emma Mamo, head of workplace wellbeing at Mind, said many healthcare staff told the charity they faced tough decisions around their personal lives during the first wave.

"Sometimes they felt conflicted between their duty to patients and their need to protect their family and friends, with some forced to live away from loved ones to minimise the risk of infection," she added,

"Common misconceptions around resilience and immunity to poor mental health – the ‘superhero’ narrative – can actually prevent people asking for support when they need it, particularly from their manager or employer."

A spokesman for Bournemouth and Poole Hospitals said: "This year has obviously been very difficult for everyone, particularly those working in the health services.

"We are very proud of our staff, and are grateful for everything that they have achieved with our patient care, but we also acknowledge how hard this year has been for all of us.

"We have put in place a support network for our staff to access to help manage both their physical and mental wellbeing during the Covid pandemic. We are also very grateful for all the public support which has been shown to our staff this year."

An NHS spokesperson said more than 400,000 NHS workers accessed a health and wellbeing programme encouraging staff to look after their physical and mental health during the first wave.

They added: "NHS staff have worked tirelessly to protect the health of the nation throughout this pandemic and it is vital that they are looked after too, which is why the NHS is investing an extra £15 million to expand and strengthen mental health support services available to staff."