NHS staff shortages: 10 Midlands hospitals with the highest sick leave

Tens of thousands of NHS hospital staff are missing work each day because of sickness, putting further strain on an already pressurised healthcare system.

New figures show that hospital trusts in the Midlands are currently some of the hardest hit due to staff absences. The Midlands had the greatest number of staff off sick with more than 13,000 absences between 19 and 25 December. This is the latest data available and includes trusts in the east and west of the region.

The Midlands was followed by North East and Yorkshire and the North West with 12,000 NHS hospital staff absences. The East of England had the lowest daily average of absences with 5,000, followed by the South West with 6,000.

In the seven days to 25 December, an average of 63,296 workers were off sick each day across NHS acute hospitals in the whole of England, according to the latest health figures published by NHS England. This is a 4% increase on the previous week’s figures, when 60,583 were off sick.

Although the figures do not state the reason for staff sickness, Covid-19 accounted for 13% of all absences in the week to 25 December. On average 8,029 workers were off each day because of coronavirus.

There were 1,747 workers off sick each day on average at University Hospitals Of Leicester NHS Trust in the week to 25 December, this was the second worst rate in England - second to only to Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, where 1,914 members of staff off were off sick each day on average.

At Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, there were 1,565 members of staff off sick each day on average. This was the third worst rate in England. The University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust was the fourth worst affected by staff absences across the whole of England in the week to 25 December, with 1,492 workers off sick each day on average.

The top 10 hospital trusts with highest number of NHS staff sickness absenses are featured in our table below. Outside of the top 10 for the 41 Midlands trusts, the NHS England figures show that Birmingham Women's And Children's NHS Foundation Trust had 257 staff absences (17th worst rate in the region).

The figures come with NHS trusts across the country warning that services are at breaking point. NHS doctors have warned that up to 500 people are dying every week as a result of delayed care as they urge Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to call an emergency meeting to deal with the crisis.

In an open letter to the Prime Minister, the Doctors’ Association UK (DAUK) has demanded MPs return to Parliament for an emergency meeting on the state of the NHS. Doctors have told of staff shortages, chaotic A&E departments, and 12 hour plus waiting times - resulting in substandard conditions for patients, risking lives, and leading to unnecessary deaths.

Last month (December) tens of thousands of nurses went on strike across England, Wales and Northern Ireland in the biggest walkout in NHS history.

Thousands of NHS appointments and operations were cancelled because of the mass walkout, with the health service running a ‘bank holiday-style’ service in many areas.

The Royal College of Nurses (RCN) has announced further strikes this month on 18 and 19 January. The RCN has said that strike action may need to be prolonged unless the government ‘find a way to resolve this dispute’. Calling strike action in different employers at different times contributes to our ability to prolong strike action should we have to,” the union said.

RCN is calling for a pay rise of 5% above the RPI inflation rate, which currently stands at above 12%. In England and Wales, NHS staff - including nurses - have been given an average of 4.75% more, with the lowest paid guaranteed a rise of at least £1,400.

Here we list the NHS hospitals in the Midlands with the greatest daily average number of staff sickness absences in the seven days to 25 December.