45,000 NHS staff call in sick every day

— 21 August 2009 —

A recent study Dr Steve Boorman, a leading occupational health expert, reveals how the quality of medical in the NHS is being affected by smoking, poor mental health and absenteeism among staff. He was asked by Government to investigate the links between staff habits and NHS productivity.

He reported that more than one in five staff have a smoking habit (the same proportion as in the adult population) and over a third of the 1.4 million NHS employees have moderate to very poor mental health. The study also found that hospitals with worse staff health are less productive and have higher patient mortality rates. It’s doesn’t end there, Dr Boorman explains that reducing the 10.3 million working days lost per year by a third would save the NHS £555 million annually.

The key finding of this review is that health and wellbeing of staff is very important to the quality of patient care, and there are good reasons for prioritising investment in it.Dr Boorman, the chief medical adviser to the Royal Mail and a former GP

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