A new review of the NHS has found more than 45,000 members of staff are calling in sick every day.
The first national audit of staff habits in the NHS found the quality of medical care in the health service is being directly affected by obesity, smoking, poor mental health and absenteeism among staff.
Dr Steve Boorman, asked by the government to asses the links between staff habits and productivity within the NHS, will present his interim findings today.
The Times newspaper claims his findings will show almost 50,000 members of staff are calling in sick every day, representing the loss of 10.3 million working days a year.
Also, more than one in five members of staff are smokers, the same as the national average, with around 40,000 smoking more than 20 cigarettes a day.
Alarmingly, more than a third of the workforce are said to be in a moderate to very poor mental health. And those hospitals with worse staff health are less productive but also have higher rates of superbug infections.
Almost half of NHS staff are also struggling to get enough exercise, with around 40 per cent currently not getting the government's recommended three times a week.
Speaking to the Times, Dr Boorman said: '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.
'It is ironic that the NHS is trying to focus on the public health agenda, yet not making it available to its own staff, because staff should be exemplars.'
The interim findings are due to go out to consultation before the publication of the final review later this year.
The review will also call for National Health Trusts to appoint workforce health and wellbeing leads to sit at board level to ensure levels of obesity, smoking and drinking amongst staff begin to fall.
The first national audit of staff habits in the NHS found the quality of medical care in the health service is being directly affected by obesity, smoking, poor mental health and absenteeism among staff.
Dr Steve Boorman, asked by the government to asses the links between staff habits and productivity within the NHS, will present his interim findings today.
The Times newspaper claims his findings will show almost 50,000 members of staff are calling in sick every day, representing the loss of 10.3 million working days a year.
Also, more than one in five members of staff are smokers, the same as the national average, with around 40,000 smoking more than 20 cigarettes a day.
Alarmingly, more than a third of the workforce are said to be in a moderate to very poor mental health. And those hospitals with worse staff health are less productive but also have higher rates of superbug infections.
Almost half of NHS staff are also struggling to get enough exercise, with around 40 per cent currently not getting the government's recommended three times a week.
Speaking to the Times, Dr Boorman said: '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.
'It is ironic that the NHS is trying to focus on the public health agenda, yet not making it available to its own staff, because staff should be exemplars.'
The interim findings are due to go out to consultation before the publication of the final review later this year.
The review will also call for National Health Trusts to appoint workforce health and wellbeing leads to sit at board level to ensure levels of obesity, smoking and drinking amongst staff begin to fall.
No comments:
Post a Comment