The NHS could save hundreds of millions of pounds by adjusting its approach to sickness absence to focus on how local managers influence levels of sick leave, an Audit Commission report has said.
Staff sickness levels in the NHS vary significantly across the UK, with employees in deprived areas taking more time off sick; the north and north-east of England had much higher absence of rates than the south.
The best trusts had absence rates of just four annual sick days per employee while the worst had as many as 15 days – the average being 10 days.
There are some key ways to cut sickness absnces.
This includes careful management of back to work interviews, watching the form of correspondence sent to the worker and identification of underlying problems of work.
Employment mediation can be particiularly useful as well as parties can open up.
Justin Patten, Mediator