𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

NHS sick leave is three times higher than in the private sector and costs taxpayers £4.6billion a year, a damning report warns today. That is the equivalent of 80,000 staff each year – enough to fully staff 80 hospitals.

Overall, more than 8 million days of clinician time are lost each year as well as 120 million face-to-face patient contacts. The Policy Exchange report reveals that absence levels in the Health Service (5.15%) are much higher than staff in the rest of the public sector (2.9%) and almost triple than in the private sector (1.8%).

It argues that the sick leave epidemic is now at an “unsustainable” level and is being driven by the NHS’s extraordinarily generous sick leave policies, with staff receiving up to six months’ leave at full pay, followed by six months’ leave at half pay.

In the ten years to 2024 there has been a significant increase in average sickness absence levels, which have risen by 21% during this period, the report found.

Long-term sickness absence (over 28 days) increased even more – with a 43% rise between 2019 and 2024.

Meanwhile, the number of staff going on long-term sick leave and not returning to work in NHS organisations increased by 42% between 2019 and 2024.

And sickness absence levels were higher amongst some groups of managers and administrators than frontline clinicians.

Helen Whately, Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary and former Health Minister, said: “We need to get Britain working, and that includes our public services.

“It is simply unsustainable to have tens of thousands of NHS staff off sick full time.

“Bold and decisive action is needed to turn things around. This is an area which needs urgent attention to unlock better outcomes both for patients and for the majority of NHS staff who are being left short-handed as a result.”

Reform UK’s Nadhim Zahawi, said: “People are struggling to get appointments and waiting lists are out of control.

“It is clear that large parts of the NHS are not working as productively as they should to serve patients or to deliver value for the taxpayer.

“This report shows one of the important reasons why. Having tens of thousands of NHS staff off long-term sick – and receiving full pay means fewer clinicians to treat patients and billions of pounds wasted.

“Ministers should seriously consider this report and its recommendations and act accordingly.”

Report author Gareth Lyon, Head of Health & Social Care at Policy Exchange said: “Our findings show a system which is clearly not working either for NHS staff or for patients. The health service should be an exemplar of how to support people to stay in work and to return to work. Instead, we are seeing tens of thousands of people being paid to be off work for months or even years at a time.

“In order for the NHS to become more productive, to reduce waiting lists and to increase patient satisfaction levels we urgently need to address this systemic failure.

“The answer lies in modernising management, sick pay and occupational health in line with best practice in the private sector and to get the NHS working again.”

An NHS spokesperson said: “NHS staff have put in a real shift this year, having delivered record-breaking improvements in tackling waiting lists and making it easier for patients to access care.

“Our staff often face greater physical and mental occupational risks than other sectors, as they care for infectious patients and people who can be seriously ill, but we’d be the first to say there’s always more we can do to protect the wellbeing of our staff which is why we’re now rolling out our new NHS staff treatment hubs.

“We’ve also asked every Trust Board to do more to understand issues raised by their staff locally and create transparent action plans to address those concerns.”